2024-2025 Impact Report_final version

The 2024-2025 Retreat: Supporting Neurodiverse College Students in Academic Libraries

Copley Library has hosted an organization-wide retreat annually for eight years. Professional development and continuous improvement are an important part of Copley. The 2024-2025 retreat focused on neurodiversity. Many librarians wanted to learn more about neurodiversity and how to support neurodivergent students. Since the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) had recently launched The Center for Embodied Equity and Neurodiversity (CEEN) and hired the nationally renowned scholar Niki Elliott in this area, we asked her to facilitate our morning session. In her 75-minute in-person remarks, which included an interactive group component, faculty and staff learned key strategies for identifying and supporting neurodiverse students. According to Dr. Elliott, neurodiversity is a natural variation in brain function and behavior

that expresses with both challenges and natural advantages. It includes diagnoses such as autism, ADHD, SPD, HSP, PTSD, TBI, and dyslexia. She said it often occurs with a mental health diagnosis. 1 By session’s end, we understood that academic libraries face issues with inaccessible PDFs, slow access to accessible copies, poor accessibility in online services, inaccessible spaces, and insufficient assistive technology. Our second speaker was Dawn Behrend, Dean of the University Libraries at Lenoir-Rhyne University. In her 45-minute virtual talk, she shared several ideas for improving library environments to serve neurodiverse students. As a result of her presentation, employees gained practical strategies for reviewing policies, communicating effectively, and designing a more inclusive environment. Elliott’s and Behrend’s presentations complemented each other. The afternoon retreat portion consisted of a group lunch followed by bowling, a great team-building activity, which was a lot of fun. The retreat, held in January during intersession, is the one day each year when all library faculty and staff come together to connect, learn, and recharge. At their February faculty meeting, the library faculty assessed Copley’s library services in terms of our ability to meet the needs of neurodiverse students.

Retreat Committee Members: Cindy Espineli; Jennifer Bidwell; Kendall Olson; Dr. Niki Elliott (presenter); Alma Ortega; Dean Theresa Byrd; Carrie Fry

1 Elliott, N. 2025. Supporting neurodiverse college students in academic libraries . [PowerPoint Slides].

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