Universal Accessibility Interest Group

Hello!

My name is Katie Rothley and I'm a marketing and PR librarian at a district library in Michigan. I'm hoping to gather responses from as many people as possible on their lived experiences using libraries and how they feel when using them, especially from people who have disabilities. This survey is a Google Form and does not require you to have a Google email, has 15 total questions, with optional spaces to offer anecdotal info, may take anywhere from 8 - 15 minutes to complete, and will close on September 30, 2025.

I am gathering this information to research and analyze real experiences from people with regard to library accessibility, inclusion, and opportunities for improvement in library spaces, services, communications, etc. for an upcoming presentation I will be giving this Fall. Please consider completing this survey to help me.

If you are also interested in a printed version to share with colleagues, peers, library patrons, family, or friends, please let me know and I will provide that to you. I would be grateful to receive as many responses as possible.

I am also happy to receive any additional information, resources, recommendations on the topic of accessibility, innovations, research, and movements to create libraries that thoughtfully consider the experiences of using the library, or why people choose not to, based on how the library makes it easy or difficult to use with regard to the physical and digital spaces, technology, signage, collections and ease of access, services, and anything else that is related.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration, and I hope that people will share their experiences. Survey link.

Sincerely,

Katie Rothley, MLIS

rothleyk@gmail.com

Thanks for sharing this, Katie.  

You are probably already aware of this book: Serving Patrons with Disabilities: Perspectives and Insights from People with Disabilities by Kodi Laskin.  If not, I highly recommend it for onboarding new staff. The focus is on public libraries, although much is transferable to academic libraries. 

Best,
Karen

Hello!

My name is Katie Rothley and I'm a marketing and PR librarian at a district library in Michigan. I'm hoping to gather responses from as many people as possible on their lived experiences using libraries and how they feel when using them, especially from people who have disabilities. This survey is a Google Form and does not require you to have a Google email, has 15 total questions, with optional spaces to offer anecdotal info, may take anywhere from 8 - 15 minutes to complete, and will close on September 30, 2025.

I am gathering this information to research and analyze real experiences from people with regard to library accessibility, inclusion, and opportunities for improvement in library spaces, services, communications, etc. for an upcoming presentation I will be giving this Fall. Please consider completing this survey to help me.

If you are also interested in a printed version to share with colleagues, peers, library patrons, family, or friends, please let me know and I will provide that to you. I would be grateful to receive as many responses as possible.

I am also happy to receive any additional information, resources, recommendations on the topic of accessibility, innovations, research, and movements to create libraries that thoughtfully consider the experiences of using the library, or why people choose not to, based on how the library makes it easy or difficult to use with regard to the physical and digital spaces, technology, signage, collections and ease of access, services, and anything else that is related.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration, and I hope that people will share their experiences. Survey link.

Sincerely,

Katie Rothley, MLIS

rothleyk@gmail.com