Western and Munster Regional Sections Seminar

The Western and Munster Regional Sections of the Library Association of Ireland held a joint annual seminar at the Technological University of the Shannon (TUS) Moylish Campus in Limerick on Thursday, 16 May 2024. The seminar, themed EDI in the Library, featured speakers from TUS, the Dyslexia Association of Ireland, the National Library of Ireland, and AHEAD Ireland. This was the Western Regional Section’s first in-person event since 2019, and it marked a significant milestone for the Munster Regional Section as their inaugural event since reforming in 2023.

Celine Peignen, Deputy Librarian at TUS Midlands and Chair of the Western Regional Section, and Elaine Harrington, Special Collections Librarian at University College Cork and Chair of the Munster Regional Section, delivered the welcome address. Both Celine and Elaine expressed their delight in co-hosting the seminar and emphasised the importance of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the library. Niamh O’Brien, Secretary of the Western Regional Section, introduced each speaker, providing an overview of their respective roles and contributions in the context of EDI.

The first speaker, Marian Duggan, VP for People, Culture, and EDI at TUS, outlined the TUS Gender Equality Action Plan which is built upon six strategic pillars:

To enhance institutional leadership in EDI through accreditation and recognition.
To integrate TUS’ EDI vision statement into organisational policies and procedures, ensuring they are consistently monitored and reviewed.
To ensure that decision-making processes regarding EDI issues are guided by real-time data.
To provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for students and staff.
To educate and inform the TUS community about EDI, and ensure that staff receive appropriate training to support diversity and inclusion.
To promote innovative EDI practices through research and partnerships with external organisations.

Marian received a warm applause from the 46 delegates in attendance on the news that TUS had received the EU Newcomer Gender Equality Champion Award for 2024 in Brussels on the day prior to the seminar.

Nicola Beagan, Adult Dyslexia Coordinator at the Dyslexia Association of Ireland, delivered a session on dyslexia awareness and, more specifically, how we can support library users with dyslexia. Nicola highlighted the importance of our language when discussing dyslexia which is a learning difference, a different way of thinking and processing information. In fact, the first step towards creating a dyslexia-friendly library is developing an awareness and understanding of dyslexia. In view of this, Nicola outlined several practical measures for library and information professionals to implement in their daily work to better support people with dyslexia. These include:

Use clear and concise language in our communications and signage that incorporate maps, videos and symbols to provide visual cues.
Using an off-white background for text helps to create a more accessible reading experience for people with dyslexia.
Avoid excessive capitalisation as dyslexic readers may find it difficult to recognise words in all capitals.
Do not justify text as this can disrupt the natural flow of reading due to irregular spacing between words.
Become familiar with assistive technologies that we might already have access to. For example, recent versions of Microsoft Word include ‘Dictate’ which allows users to have their spoken words converted into text while ‘Read Aloud’ reads the text of a document out loud. ‘Immersive Reader’ is a feature in Microsoft Outlook that provides a distraction-free reading experience.

In addition to the above-mentioned measures to create a dyslexic-friendly library, Nicola emphasised that “the best gift you can give a dyslexic person is time.”

The first speaker in the afternoon session was Elizabeth Kirwan, Assistant Keeper in the Department of Special Collections at the National Library of Ireland (NLI), who presented about Equity, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EEDI) at the NLI. Elizabeth spoke about the NLI’s revised collection development policy which seeks to “create a more diverse and inclusive story of Ireland, so that new voices are collected and shared with the world, and so that everyone will feel welcome in the National Library of Ireland.” While discussing the Irish Queer Archive which was presented to the NLI in 2008 by the National LGBT Federation, Elizabeth highlighted the vital role of archives and special collections for under-represented groups, poignantly remarking that without a documented record of your existence, you cannot prove you existed.

Erica Meslin, Education Manager at AHEAD Ireland, was the final speaker of the day and presented on Universal Design for Learning (UDL). In its broadest sense, “Universal Design (UD) is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability.” An environment should therefore be designed to meet the needs of all people who wish to use it. In this context, Erica spoke about ALTITUDE, the National Charter for Universal Design in Tertiary Education, which aims to embed a Universal Design approach across the Higher Education (HE) sector. The charter is built upon four pillars:

Learning, teaching & assessment
Supports, services & social engagement
Physical environment
Digital environment

In subsequent breakout discussion groups, delegates from various library sectors agreed that their daily activities often span all four pillars. Erica then presented some interesting statistics around changing student demographics in Ireland, namely:

1/3 of HE students are 24 years of age or older.
11% of HE students have children.
12% are international students.
23% are not from a “white Irish” ethnic background.
18% of HE Equal Access Survey Respondents self-declare a disability.
Number of students in disability services has risen by 270% in the last 12 years.

Finally, delegates considered how we might adopt the “Plus One Approach” in our respective libraries. The “Plus One Approach” encourages us to make small, incremental changes by adding one additional option or method to better accommodate a diverse range of library users. An example here might be introducing digital signage that provides the same information as physical signage in a more accessible format.

Elaine Harrington and Celine Peignen, Chairs of the Munster and Western Regional Sections, delivered the closing address and encouraged those in attendance to join either the Western or Munster Regional Sections of the Library Association of Ireland. Delegates were delighted to conclude the day with a tour of the wonderful TUS Moylish Campus Library which was revamped in 2023.