Inclusion in the Library: a case study of accessibility in the Central Institutes in the North Eastern Region of India

With the creative advocacy of inclusion in every aspect of the society, Social Inclusion is now a universal concept and inclusivity in the library is no exception. An inclusive Library is an important element for an inclusive education and thereby, an inclusive society. Accessibility is the key concern when it comes to inclusion in the library. This study focuses on the various issues of accessibilities in selected academic libraries located in the North Eastern Region of India. This topic seems to be an underexplored study, especially in this region of the country. Therefore, it is high time to create a serious awareness about the importance of an inclusive library that supports the students with special needs in their quest for information and higher education. With this goal, the present study was undertaken to draw attention of the scientific community to the existing gaps in the library services to its users with special needs, especially in higher learning. This paper highlights the initial findings of a research study on the academic libraries in sixteen selected central institutes located in the North Eastern region of India, regarding their services to the persons with special needs. Various accessibility measures based on standard recommendations were studied to have a holistic approach towards inclusivity in these libraries. The study revealed the various barriers and constraints to accessibility and found that a proper framework of policy and a proper funding may well be the main solution in overcoming barriers to accessibility for this group of special people in their quest for knowledge