134 - Creating an Accessible Study Space

Background: The main reference desk at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign underwent a renovation in 2019. At the same time that the renovation started, it was determined to make one of the meeting rooms into a bookable accessible study space for people with disabilities.

Description: Once the decision was made to turn one of the meeting rooms into an accessible study room, a small group convened to discuss how to create such a room. We discussed technology needs as well as furniture and use cases. We developed a short survey in order to capture user feedback. We also assembled a marketing plan to let the campus know that this new accessible study space existed. And then the pandemic happened.

Conclusion: The soft launch of the accessible study space was earmarked for the week of spring break 2020, which is when the University closed down because of the pandemic. The accessible study space sat unused by anyone for a year and a half. With the return to face to face teaching, we implemented our marketing and assessment plans with predictably mixed results because of the continuing pandemic. The patrons that have used the accessible study room have generally been happy with it but the survey sample is very small. Still, despite the pandemic and small assessment sample, we are calling the accessible study room a success.