Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the library

The Disability Support in the Library guide details the services, equipment and support available to disabled students, staff and visitors who use the Library. This includes physical equipment like video magnifiers and adjustable desks, services like postage and scanning for those who are unable to pick up and return borrowed books in person and buddies who can help anyone anxious about using the library for the first time to learn about the space and its facilities. 

Disabilities can also affect your ability to access and use digital resources the university has available, or to study effectively. The Tech for Learning guide provides a detailed list of the accessibility technology available, including text to speech and voice recognition software, grammar checking and planning tools, and software that converts resources into formats you can use. 

The library run a dedicated Welcome Week for International students during induction periods. The intention is to create a welcoming environment for people who may have not been in the country long, and to help with enrolment, finding academic inductions and general help such as how to set up a bank account. Much of this lives on our International Student Library Support guide 

Alongside general support is the acknowledgement that international students in particular can experience digital culture shock when encountering new ways of navigating our digital environment, be it connecting to wifi, understanding different terminology, finding menu options, emailing, saving to the cloud, or using different devices.

As well as the Digital Toolkit session below, we promote a 10-step guide to getting started with their digital experience to help mitigate the shock and assist students with starting their studies equitably. 

A bookable group session, or 1:1 tutorial that covers the basics of the digital environment students will need to navigate.

The session covers how to connect to Eduroam, where to download Google Chrome and how to log into the University portal, where to find the University app, where to log into the DLE/emails/timetable and the basics of downloading and using Office 365. The importance of saving to the OneDrive and how to do so is also covered. 

The intention of the session is to allow all students regardless of age, culture or background to have an equitable start with their University journey from the start of their course.

Both student engagement and the development of key graduate attributes is improved when reading lists represent a wide and diverse range of backgrounds (Adewumi et al., 2022). 

There are small changes that can be made to reading lists that will boost student engagment with the course materials, and a provide a more well-rounded foundation for their studies. 

Take a look at our dedicated Decolonise your reading list guide for tips and advice.

Reference: Adewumi, B., Bailey, L.R., Mires-Richards, E., Quinlan, K.M., Agyeman, E., Alabi, A., Jeyasingh, M., Konadu-Mensah, C., Lavinière, W., Mighton, P., Shortridge, T., Thomas, D.S.P and Wassamba-Wabelua, N. (2022) ‘Cross-disciplinary, collaborative and student-led: developing a change process for diversifying reading lists’. London Review of Education, 20(1), 1–17. Available at: https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.20.1.01

We promote various national campaigns through out the year, and often create online guides with curated resources to run alongside our physical displays.  Here are the links to the latest promotions:

Black History Month

LGBT+ History Month

UK Disability History Month

Some international awareness days are also promoted with small book displays being created and displayed throughout the building.

As part of The University of Plymouth LGBT+ Staff Network's work to make the campus a safer place for LGBT+ staff and students, LGBT+ Breathing Spaces have been created in many university buildings. These quiet spaces allow anyone who is overwhelmed or distressed to take a mindfulness break, in an inclusive and welcoming environment.

The entire Charles Seale-Hayne Library is one of these breathing spaces. You can find it, along with the other LGBT+ Breathing Spaces across campus, on this map.

For transgender and non-binary students, using gendered public restrooms can be a source of anxiety. The University of Plymouth supports trans and non-binary staff and students in using the toilets they feel most comfortable in, and has gender neutral toilets available across campus. 

The Charles Seale-Hayne Library has two gender neutral toilets, each with sanitary bins. You can find these, along with all other buildings' gender neutral toilets, on this map. 

For people with disabilities that affect mobility, vision or hearing, there can be barriers to navigating public buildings. On AccessAble, an independent accessibility surveying site, you can find this detailed guide of how accessible the Charles Seale-Hayne Library is for disabled staff, students and visitors. 

It contains information about how accessible entrances, lifts, stairs, desks, walkways, signage, toilets and the reception are for people with a variety of disabilities, as well as their locations. 

Room 225 on the second floor of the Charles Seale-Hayne Library is a Reflection Space. This space is intended for brief retreats from studying and offers a peaceful, distraction free environment where you can pause, relax, reflect, pray, or meditate.

The room is quiet and comfortable, with armchairs, sofas, beanbags and plants. For those looking for something to read, there are relaxing books, and for prayer, there are several Qur'ans, turbahs, abayas and prayer rugs. There is also a miniature zen garden and meditation cushions. 

The Student Hub is located near the first floor entrance to the Charles Seale-Hayne Library. Here you can talk to Student Services, who can advise international students, disabled staff, students and applicants and students encountering mental health issues and stress. 

Student Services will either help you with your non-academic issue, or redirect you to a service that can. To arrange an appointment with student services or ask any questions email studentservices@plymouth.ac.uk, or drop by the student hub during available hours. 

Outside of the Library, there is more that the University is doing to make the campus a safe, equal and inclusive place for people from diverse backgrounds. By visiting the University's Equality, diversity and inclusion page, you can learn more about the support available to marginalised people, the University's equality policy and goals, upcoming events that promote the diversity of our community, and what you can do to be more inclusive of others.