It Starts at the Top: The Role of Leadership and Management in an Accessible and Inclusive Library

Abstract

This paper will stress the importance of leadership and management in the integration of existing guidelines on how to make a library accessible to people with disabilities. It has been explored how leadership and management can make and demonstrate their commitment to accessibility and inclusion. The paper discussed the human rights and legal rights in serving people with disabilities and the basic roles of leaders/managers, such as: setting a mission and values for the staff that include accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities, establishing library policies, partnering with the disability community, setting priorities, and evaluating the success of serving people with disabilities. The paper also covers universal design, staff training, recruiting and hiring people with disabilities and their unique contribution to a library, the role of professional library associations, and the impact of COVID on serving people with disabilities.

Keywords: Library accessibility; disabled library employees; inclusion; library leadership, people with disabilities