EDI Toolkit: Student Experience

Introduction

Academic and Research Libraries in Scotland have a commitment to our students, to ensure that there is a culture of inclusion and belonging in our all-library facilities.

What is the Student Engagement/Experience Toolkit?

This SCURL toolkit is designed to support library staff use the best practice identified in initiatives and support for students in their own institutions. The toolkit is a dynamic document and will be kept updated as new support is identified.

Themes Covered by the Toolkit

Accessibility

  • Alternative Formats

  • Building Use

Disability

Diversity & Inclusion

Equality Impact Assessments

Events / Book Displays / Diversity Calendars

Feedback and Suggestions

Library environment - Inclusive Study Space

Neurodiversity

Staff Training

Stock Suggestions

Wellbeing

Accessibility:

  • Alternative Formats - Lead Scotland are a charity supporting disabled people and carers. They have created a couple of short training videos on the do’s and don’ts for creating accessible materials for online layouts and accessible images.

    They provide and accessible learning platform “Learn your way with my.lead” This contains courses on topics from staying safe online to how to create accessible content.

Disability:

Diversity & Inclusion:

  • Accreditation: The LGBT Charter - A programme that enables your organisation to proactively include LGBT people in every aspect of work, protecting staff and provide quality service to customers or service users.

  • Accreditation: Advanced HE Declaration on Racism and race equality charter - Advance HE’s Race Equality Charter provides a framework for action and improvement and helps institutions in their work to identify and address the barriers facing Black, Asian and minority ethnic staff and students.

  • Communication: Race Equality Matters - Explains why pronouncing someone’s name matters and to promote by adding it phonetically to email signatures, with a possibility of including it on LMS patron records?

  • Decolonising Collections: Research Libraries UK (RLUK) - The focus of the report is on decolonisation efforts and the needs of professionals that lead or support them in terms of training and skills development

  • OPAC/Web Page Statements: Glasgow School of Art - Example of acknowledgements that collections contain historic materials which may contain, either in their content or catalogue descriptions, terminology which is inappropriate, outdated, offensive or distressing.

  • OPAC/Web Page Statements: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh - Example of acknowledgements that collections contain historic materials which may contain, either in their content or catalogue descriptions, terminology which is inappropriate, outdated, offensive or distressing.

  • LGBTQ+ (Staff Training): Kit Heyman (Academic researcher and trans awareness trainer, Leeds, UK) - Creating trans-inclusive libraries. Paper includes terminology, legal context and trans user experience case studies. Kit Heyman also provides trans awareness training for staff.

Equality Impact Assessments:

  • AdvanceHE guidance on Equality Impact Assessments - Guidance on completing Equality Impact Assessments should be available at institutional level – for example this guidance from LSE - however this guidance from AdvanceHE includes some sample EIAs and links to specific guidance for Scottish institutions.

Events / Book Displays / Diversity Calendars:

  • University of Exeter: Examples of calendars, reading lists, displays, events tied into specific events. Libraries can create an EDI calendar in collaboration with institutional colleagues and students. Some good examples include Exeter and Warwick, and the links pulls a lot of these themes together into a web page.

  • Warwick University Library: Some good examples include Exeter and Warwick, and the links pulls a lot of these themes together into a web page.

  • University College London Diversity Calendar: Calendar marks EDI awareness days/weeks/months and religious celebrations.

  • University College London: Exhibition of Library Material - An exhibition of material from UCL Library Services: Hidden in Plain Sight and highlights the concept of “Liberating our library collections”. Staff, students and volunteers worked together to discover, record and celebrate the diverse voices in the collection.

  • University of Sheffield: Reading for Diversity - Opportunity for students to critically engage with, reflect on and discuss books written from under-represented/diverse perspectives.

  • University of the Arts London: Reading Groups - The UAL library runs regular in person and online reading groups led by a librarian in conjunction with academic colleagues to allow for exploration and discussion on the establishment and curation of the library’s collections, their content and the representation of potentially marginalised groups.

Feedback and Suggestions:

  • University of Salford, Manchester: The University of Salford Library, have a short survey using Microsoft Forms, to collate feedback with a chance of winning a £10 gift voucher in a monthly draw if email is left.

  • London South Bank University: London South Bank University library, use a Padlet for collecting feedback. All comments require feedback before they appear on the wall. Useful visual tool, and users can see what has been asked before.

Library Environment:

  • Inclusive Study Space: Scottish BPOC (Black people, People of Colour) Writers Network - Safer Spaces Policy that includes agreements on consent, accessibility and community accountability to help make all welcomed and safe. It also helps recognise and challenge the oppression and exploitation that some of us are harmed by and some of us benefit from.

  • Inclusive Study Space: Luminate: A Guide for Accessible Venues and Events - A guide for accessibility for venues and events. It covers the provision of quiet spaces, shared planning with users, a language guide, signposting and an access checklist.

  • Inclusive Study Space (Family Study Lounge): University of Strathclyde, Glasgow - Family Study Rooms for students who want to have their children with them while they study.

  • Inclusive Study Space (Family Study Lounge): University of Glasgow - Family Study Rooms for students who want to have their children with them while they study.

  • Inclusive Study Space (Family Study Lounge): Edinburgh Napier University - Family Study Rooms for students who want to have their children with them while they study.

  • Prayer Room: University of Glasgow - Located on Level 9 Annexe in the library. Students from all faiths, backgrounds and beliefs are welcome to visit the Library Reflection, Prayer and Wellbeing space for time out from studies and the pressures of student life. The space includes ablution facilities, prayer space and a reflection area.

  • Relaxation Space: Edinburgh Napier University - Spaces for relaxation and nurturing good mental health.

  • Relaxation Space: Glasgow School of Art - Spaces for relaxation and nurturing good mental health.

  • Sensory Rooms: University of Warwick - Space in the library for those registered with the University’s Disability Services. Accessible Study Rooms were refurbished, focusing on improvements for those with sensory sensitivities. Lighting, décor and furnishings were all selected to allow the individual user to tailor the environment to their sensory needs.

Neurodiversity:

Staff Training:

  • ACRL Trauma-Informed Librarianship Primer: A trauma-informed approach to librarianship recognises every interaction we have has the potential to be retraumatizing or healing. The approach emphasises realising the impact of trauma, recognising signs in others, responding to this with consideration and resisting retraumatisation. Includes links to further reading mainly US-based.

  • Glasgow School of Art and Open University: Examples of good training, example courses, useful articles - autism e.g., Open University Understanding Autism, deaf awareness, cultural awareness. Tips for educators supporting neurodivergent students in this guide from HEE

  • AdvanceHE guidance on Equality Impact Assessments: Guidance on completing Equality Impact Assessments should be available at institutional level – for example this guidance from LSE - however this guidance from AdvanceHE includes some sample EIAs and links to specific guidance for Scottish institutions.

  • Maryland State Libraries: Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Resources for Maryland Libraries: American site with a repository of resources on EDI in libraries.  Includes sections on collection development; programming and instruction; leadership and management; staff training; racial justice as well as general training resources on building a foundation to understand EDI.  Staff training section includes courses and webinars as well as speaker's bureau of experts.  Information is from a US perspective but may still be useful.

  • Skills Development Scotland: Includes the Equality Evidence Review looking at research evidence in relation to education and employment across protected characteristics within schools, FE and HE and the labour market. Also, the SDS Equality Toolkit which has a section of scenarios available to be used in awareness raising sessions with staff.

  • ALISS Disability Champions Forum: Slides, resources, training opportunities curated by The Association of Librarians and Information Professionals in the Social Sciences, with a focus on providing services to help librarians support customers who are impacted by disability.

  • CALL Scotland – University of Edinburgh: Organisation based at the University of Edinburgh with a focus on Assistive Technologies and how to support young people. You can sign up for a monthly newsletter or attend the annual ASL and Technology conference.

  • CILIPS (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland) – Community Sighted Guide Training for Library Professionals: Gain confidence in assisting library patrons living with sight loss in a practical and person-centred way: learning about common eye conditions and the challenges that living with sight loss can come with, simple ways to support people and basic sighted guiding techniques to guide someone with sight loss safely in library spaces.

Stock Suggestions:

  • Strategies for diversifying reading lists from Lancaster University: How do we encourage students to make suggestions in order to ‘see themselves on the library shelves? e.g. this guide from Lancaster

  • Huddersfield University: Inclusive reading lists. Libraries can showcase and demonstrate evidence of work being done across the institution and liaise with student reps. Toolkit from Huddersfield has guidance on how to diversify your reading list. Lots of useful links to other institutions is included.

  • University of Kent: Inclusive reading lists at this link. Libraries can showcase and demonstrate evidence of work being done across the institution and liaise with student reps. University of Kent has guidance on how to diversify your reading list. Lots of useful links to other institutions is included.

  • York St John University IAMplify Project: The library is running a project to bring together and organise initiatives which aim to lift the voices of marginalised peoples and communities on the library and curricula

Wellbeing:

If you have suggestions of resources you think should be included in this toolkit, please contact the SCURL EDI group via the contact form.

Review cycle: Links and guidance to be reviewed on an annual basis. Next review date August 2024.