Library Staff with Disabilities

The Library Staff with Disabilities Toolkit offers guidance on fostering an inclusive, accessible, and legally compliant workplace by addressing accommodations, respectful communication, and supportive practices for employees with disabilities.

Definitions

  • Job accommodations (aka workplace accommodation): an adjustment to a job or work environment that makes it possible for an individual with a disability to perform their job duties. Accommodations may include specialized equipment, modifications to the work environment, or adjustments to work schedules or responsibilities.1
  • Reasonable accommodations: are adjustments or modifications that enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of a job efficiently and productively. In this way, they are important retention and advancement tools. Reasonable accommodations may also be necessary to assist a person with a disability to apply and interview for a job.2
  • Types of Reasonable Accommodations:
    • No-tech: An accommodation costs little or no money…just time, support, and creativity (e.g., additional preparation time for an individual, or a color-coded filing system).
    • Low-tech: Any accommodation that is technologically simple or unsophisticated, and readily available in most offices (e.g., replacing a door knob with an accessible door handle, providing a magnifier).
    • High-tech: Any accommodation that uses advanced or sophisticated devices (e.g., screen reading software with synthesized speech).3

Quick Tips

Legal Compliance and Policy Awareness

  • Ensure that your library meets ADA standards for access.
  • As library staff ages and vision declines, the need to enlarge text will increase. Therefore, adherence to Section 508 guidelines is essential.
  • Respect staff privacy and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy and security rules. Allow staff members (if comfortable in this role) to explain their special needs.
  • Contact the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy for current information on federal law and referrals to employer assistance centers.
  • Remember that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in your community may have experience assisting with ADA workplace compliance and/or contact local disability employment agencies for support.

Inclusive Workplace Design

  • Use principles of Universal Design in planning office space and equipment to meet the needs of all staff.
  • Ensure that good lighting is installed in all work and break areas, including the stacks and storage areas. Glare should be eliminated.
  • Know what types of ergonomic equipment and devices could help staff to perform daily tasks, and ensure they are available. Staff with disabilities should not hesitate to ask for equipment that will help them continue to work.
  • Acquire electronic media that staff needing assistive technology can access.

Communication and Team Culture

  • Allow staff to ask coworkers "How can I help?" without invading a coworker’s privacy. If told, "I do not need any help," staff should respect the decision.
  • Provide positive reinforcement to employees, and answer questions quickly.
  • Conduct and attend workshops where disabilities can be explained, allowing time for staff discussions.

Overview

People who have disabilities are part of our community, so it stands to reason that people with disabilities are part of the professional library community. The disabilities can be congenital, acquired through an accident, or developed as part of the aging process. 

In today's technologically advanced world, there is no reason why accommodations cannot be made to enable people with disabilities to work within the library community. Furthermore, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that “reasonable accommodation” be provided to employees with disabilities.   

Screen readers and text-enlargement software programs enable persons with visual disabilities to access online information; ergonomically designed furniture enables persons with chronic back pain or other physical disabilities to work in relative comfort; ergonomically designed keyboards and large-grip pens enable persons with physical disabilities such as arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome to work with greater ease; good lighting, correctly adjusted monitor displays, and the elimination of glare enable staff experiencing vision loss to continue to work efficiently throughout the workday; and people who are deaf benefit from good lighting and software programs that give the user a visual cue instead of auditory alerts when programs change.   

Job sharing, flexible assignments, and good resource management can help people with disabilities get through the workweek, contribute to the community, and earn a living. For example, a person may have a disability that prevents him or her from lifting heavy loads; pairing this person with another staff member who can do the lifting when needed is a solution and a reasonable accommodation.  As remote work has become more prevalent, consider if the job could be done partly or fully remote to accommodate a staff member with a disability.  Offer scheduling flexibility as much as possible. 

Administrators must ensure that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates and rules set forward by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including Sections 504 and 508 regarding electronic information, are adhered to for staff in the same manner as they are for the general public. Staff should be aware of their rights as well as those of their colleagues and assist whenever possible to allow the library staff to be a reflection of the community while rendering the best service possible. Be aware that larger institutions are required to have a Section 504/508 or ADA coordinator.   

Do not hesitate to hire persons with disabilities for fear they will need expensive equipment to perform their duties. Often the accommodations are cost effective, and in some cases the accommodations may be underwritten by state rehabilitation agencies. This resource guide is meant to begin the discussion only. Please check with your organization’s human resources or personnel department, Section 504/508 or ADA coordinator, or general counsel for specific workplace-accommodation requirements.

Data

Hiring people with disabilities will make your library better.  It will generate innovative programs and policies.  It will help libraries understand their communities better.  And it will promote inclusion and accessibility in your communities.

  • In a survey conducted between 2019-2022 and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and carried out by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), 49.4% of employer respondents indicated that accommodations cost them $0.  Another 43.3% of the surveyed employers reported the accommodations made involved only a one-time cost, while the remaining 7.2% of accommodations made resulted in ongoing costs to the employer.4
  • In 2022, about 21 percent of people with a disability in the U.S. were employed, up from about 19 percent in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That is the highest rate since the U.S. began tracking this statistic in 2008.5

Trends 

  • Inclusive hiring practices:
    • Consider ways to build flexibility into your hiring practices and policies so that candidates may not need to request accommodations. These can include sharing interview questions in advance, building in multiple breaks during the interview, skipping mandatory meals (or if a meal is required, choose a location with a variety of dietary options) or walking tours for candidates, and providing options for interview setting (e.g. telephone or Zoom).6
    • In the job posting and during the hiring process, share your libraries’ accessibility resources and policies.
    • If using an online application, ask if an accommodation is needed.
  • Flexible, hybrid, and remote work options. 

Resources for Librarians

  • CripLib #CripLib is a organizing term used when discussing the intersection of disability and libraries, predominantly by library and archives workers with disabilities. It is written #CripLib (with camel case capitalization for screen reader accessibility).
  • Job Accommodations Network (JAN) provides employers and employees with reasonable solutions to accommodations for persons with disabilities. The website provides information on a wide range of disabilities and the ADA.
  • Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) assists both persons with disabilities and the employer to find workplace solutions which will acceptable for both the employee and employer.
  • U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy provides rules, obligations, and regulations concerning the legal mandates of U.S. legislation.
  • Working with a Disability provides practical information for both the person with a disability and the employer.

Resources for Employers

References 

  1. U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Accommodations. Office of Disability Employment Policy. https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/employers/accommodations
  2. Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion. (n.d.). Reasonable accommodations. U.S. Department of Labor. https://askearn.org/topics/laws-regulations/americans-with-disabilities-act-ada/reasonable-accommodations
  3. Office of Disability Rights. (n.d.). Types of reasonable accommodation. Government of the District of Columbia. https://odr.dc.gov/page/types-reasonable-accommodation
  4. Job Accommodation Network. (2024, April 5). Costs and benefits of accommodation. U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy. https://askjan.org/topics/costs.cfm
  5. Maurer, R. (2023, February 28). Employment rate rising for people with disabilities. Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/behavioral-competencies/global-and-cultural-effectiveness/pages/employment-rate-rising-for-people-with-disabilities.aspx
  6. Hiring Librarians. (2023, February 28). Hiring better: Disability accommodations & the hiring process. https://hiringlibrarians.com/2023/02/28/hiring-better-disability-accommodations-the-hiring-process/ 

Toolkit updated by Lauren Kehoe of the Accessibility Assembly, June 2025