Perceptions of users living with Disabilities towards Academic Library Services: A Marketing and Quality Assurance Approach

A mixed method study was conducted to explore the perception of users living with disabilities towards academic library services offered at one of the State Universities in Zimbabwe. The study was precipitated by the fact that while learning institutions worldwide are advocating for inclusivity in the teaching and learning discourses, nothing was done at this university to cater for the disabled users in its libraries. The study adopted a mixed methods approach to generate data from a population of 200 lecturers, non-teaching staff and students. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample of 35 participants who actually took part in the study. The study was premised on the Marketing and Quality Assurance Approach as a conceptual framework guiding it. Findings of the study revealed that there were no resources in the libraries such as the assistive devices as well as the human capital base to assist the disabled users to effectively utilise library resources. The study also revealed that there was no clear cut policy at the library for the benefit of users living with disabilities. The study recommends that library policies that cater for the needs of people living with disabilities be crafted and implemented, so that universally accessible use of resources that integrate the needs of users with disabilities are taken care of. The study also recommends that; librarians acquire assistive equipment related to users living with disabilities as well as seconding qualified staff to the libraries as assistants to users living with disability.