As an autistic MLIS student, it probably comes as no surprise that I’m particularly interested in the ways that libraries can be made more friendly for neurodivergent patrons and staff. I look up scholarly research on this topic for my own edification, and I have a Google Scholar alert for new entries related to autism and libraries.
There is an ever-increasing amount of research out there about neurodiversity and libraries. I think that’s great! There certainly wasn’t ten years ago, or earlier than that when I was a child first venturing into my local public library. There’s information about how to make childrens’ areas friendly for kids on the spectrum. There’s resources for autism-friendly and ADHD-friendly children’s programming. List after list of youth book and other materials that are designed with neurodivergent readers in mind, or featuring neurodivergent protagonists. There are training programs for library staff in how to best support the needs of child and adolescent neurodivergent patrons in public and school libraries. Life in a library for an autistic person has never been better… as long as you’re under the age of 18.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that these resources exist now. The neurodivergent kids in my life are thriving in these environments in a way that I never could. I am thrilled when my autistic nephew tells me about the new book he’s reading where all of the emotions are spelled out so that he can understand the characters more easily. I love that the library has a sensory space, and that the librarians know not to touch him and to be literal in their communication. But when I, also autistic, behave similarly to my nephew or ask a similar question, the same understanding that is extended to him is not extended to me.
Whether it’s special sensory-friendly hours at the library, special programming, staff interactions, or a hundred other things, as soon as a neurodivergent person crosses that age threshold, people and institutions lose interest in meeting our needs. They seem to think we disappear, or are magically “cured” or outgrow our brain’s wiring. Transitioning into adulthood is a very stressful time for us, and to have the support structures we’ve come to rely on evaporate when we need them most can be not only disappointing but traumatizing.
The same is true when working inside of libraries. Autistic librarians consistently report a lack of support and understanding from management and other staff as a significant job stressor, which can contribute to the development of autistic burnout. Anderson (2018) points out the dearth of support for the few autistic librarians who overcome employment barriers to land a position in a library at all. It sounds like the situation in Canada isn’t much better than it is here (Giles-Smith & Popowich, 2023). Significant challenges in libraries across the Western world are noted for autistic librarians, including barriers to education, hiring, retention, and promotion compared to their allistic peers.
And of course that situation is grounded in our education of librarians. Neither of my textbooks this semester mentions autism at all, nor ADHD, nor neurodiversity. The course list in my program includes a single course on accessibility in libraries, which I intend to take when I have the opportunity, but the course summary makes it clear that the course focuses on meeting the needs of patrons with mobility and vision issues, not neurodivergence and not in employees. I hope the course is updated before I get to that point, and that the professor and my peers will be receptive to hearing about my experiences. How can we hope to improve the situation for autistic librarians if the topic of neurodiversity isn’t included within the curriculum at all?
I am an adult with autism. Despite turning 18 several decades ago, I am still autistic, and still face the same struggles that I did before. LIS education and LIS as a profession need to support neurodivergent patrons, students, and librarians beyond childhood. The silence on this topic within LIS is deafening.
Anderson, A. (2018). Employment and neurodiverse librarians. Informed Librarian Online.
Giles-Smith, L., & Popowich, E. (2023). Autistic employees in canadian academic libraries: Barriers, opportunities, and ways forward. Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship, 9, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.33137/cjal-rcbu.v9.39994