Inclusive Education Framework: Inclusion in the Library

Dr Lee Fallin

University Library

Lee.Fallin@hull.ac.uk

Background and Activity

The University Library has been on a mission to make our services easier to use and more inclusive. The reason why is straightforward. If we are not inclusive in everything we do, our services and resources would ultimately exclude students, academics and external visitors. For us, inclusion is a moral imperative. 

There are eight objectives we have implemented to drive forward this work:

1. We are training our staff to use the accessibility features of Microsoft 365 and Canvas. From marking up heading styles to using sufficient contrast in text, inclusive design helps our library users access our services and resources. 
2. We have produced templates and an in-house style guide to maintain accessibility standards and ensure visual consistency across our materials. 
3. We are developing a consistent approach to our use of language. Simplicity is an essential aspect of addressing the hidden curriculum. Is there a difference between eBooks, ebooks, e-books and electronic books? No! Wherever possible, we stick to one term to avoid confusion. We are also working hard to explain the terms we use – like Inter-Library Loan. It is important to explain things like this clearly, so they do not become a source of misunderstanding for our service users.
4. We continue to develop the accessibility of our websites with the use of Siteimprove. Siteimprove continually monitors our websites for accessibility and quality assurance issues. This helps us fix broken links; address illegible text, and identify photos and videos without a label or text alternative. 
5. We have completely redesigned the search experience to make it as easy as possible. We have merged our discovery tool and catalogue to produce a single Library Search – one place to access almost everything we have a subscription for. We have also implemented a brand new tool that will automate the authentication for most of our resources too. This makes search and discovery more accessible than it ever has been before. 
6. We aim to develop productive partnerships with academics to support the development of academic, information, visual, digital and research literacies within the curriculum. For example, we promote Library Search as the primary search tool for our first-year students to ease their induction to university. This allows us to focus on databases and other specialist search tools on the transition to level 5 study. 
7. We have established an ambitious ReadingLists@Hull policy to support the University of Hull Education Strategy. This new policy aims to increase the diversity of sources in our lists and ensure that all items are more accessible to students. This includes support for assistive technologies. 
8. We work hard to ensure our Brynmor Jones Library is a welcoming, inclusive, and safe space. We have a switch-off zone for student well-being that includes reading well books for mental health. We also have gender-neutral toilets, a baby change facility and have recently opened a family room. A number of our staff are trained as first aiders and mental health first aiders.

All of this work is ongoing. For us, these objectives go beyond one-time activities and have become embedded processes in the Library and how we work.

Impact

Some of our progress is easy to measure. We can objectively measure the use of our templates and our progress with Siteimprove – where we are now rated above the sector average on all measures. Our monitoring and statistics also show an increase in access to resources and services thanks to our developments. These measures show we are positively impacting hundreds of users.

Other aspects are trickier to quantify, but the wins are best measured on a small scale. For example, two days after we promoted our mental health first aiders, a student came forward for support after getting stressed with their studies. That day we made a difference to one student – and that is good enough for us.