Developing a Library Accessibility Plan: A Practical Guide for Librarians

Librarians have a professional and legal obligation to ensure that library collections, buildings, programs, and services are accessible to patrons with disabilities. Many of these patrons require specific accommodations to use libraries effectively. The latest volume in the “Practical Guides for Librarians” series instructs librarians in planning, implementing, and assessing a customized accessibility plan. Marrall (director, technology and discovery svcs., Western Washington Univ. Libs.) provides an overview of disability legislation and introduces readers to the major categories of disability and the adaptive techniques and technologies used to improve accessibility. Readers will learn how to assess barriers related to entrances, floor plans, electronic resources, programming, outreach, and more, as well as how to devise an accessibility plan to prioritize and then eradicate barriers. Marrall offers tools to track and evaluate results efficiently and explains how to gain the support of community and institutional partners and staff to remove barriers. The guide concludes with case studies describing how other libraries have approached accessibility issues.