(via Christine Moeller, PhD candidate at University of Washington iSchool)
Are you a “neurotypical” (do not identify as neurodivergent) librarian at a US public or academic library? Are you interested in improving neuroinclusion at your workplace? Please consider participating in the next phase of an IMLS-funded research project conducted by faculty and graduate students from the Information School at the University of Washington. We are inviting U.S. librarians aged 18 and older to participate in this study.
You are eligible to participate if:
- You are a librarian or library supervisor as defined within your organization
- You identify as neurotypical (not neurodivergent in any way)
- You are currently employed at a public or academic library or have worked in public or academic libraries within the past five years.
Please note that we have already reached capacity for neurodivergent participants.
The goal of our study is to is to build libraries’ capacity, at the team level, to improve employment outcomes of neurodivergent librarians, including representation, empowerment, equity, belonging, and advancement. Our research is cumulating in the development of a neurodiversity at work toolkit that will include training and resources for libraries and MLIS programs, as well as resources to empower neurodivergent librarians. To inform the design and implementation of this toolkit, we ask you to share your experience and expertise with our team by providing feedback on our initial design of the toolkit by participating in an interactive design session.
Design Sessions
We invite you to take part in a 90-minute virtual session over Zoom to provide input and feedback on our toolkit design to improve neuroinclusion in library workplaces. During the session the research team will ask you to review our preliminary toolkit design and share your ideas. You will be led through simple activities to elicit your input on the preliminary pieces of our toolkit, including training, resources, and other tools to support neurodiversity employment in libraries.
We will be offering design sessions on the following days and times:
- Tuesday, January 14, 2025: 12:00-1:30 PM CDT
- Wednesday, January 15, 2025: 12:30-2:00 PM CDT
- Thursday, January 16, 2025: 6:00-7:30 PM CDT
We hope that you will consider participating in this study and forward this call to others who might be interested as well. The full call for participation is also available on our website.
If interested, please complete the intake survey here to participate in a design session. In the survey, we will verify your eligibility to participate and ask you to identify which sessions you are available to participate in. If you are available on more than one date, we will select the best session for your participation. You only need to participate in one session.
This research study has been approved by the University of Washington Institutional Review Board. If you have questions or concerns, please contact our research team at neurodiversity@uw.edu.