“Jobwise, it's honestly the best thing that has ever happened to me”: COVID-19 pandemic and academic librarians with non-apparent disabilities

The COVID-19 pandemic posed incredible risk to disabled people, while at the same time opening avenues for more inclusive and flexible work environments. Conducted during winter 2022, this study provides a snapshot of the working experiences of disabled academic librarians and archivists during the first two years of the pandemic. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 18 academic library workers with MLIS degrees who self-identified as having a non-apparent illness and/or disability. These interviews document the ways participants navigated disclosing disability and requesting accommodations to protect themselves from the pandemic. Most notably, participants described their working conditions improving because of pandemic-related remote work. Working from home allowed participants the flexibility to more easily self-accommodate their illnesses and/or disabilities, which led to reduced symptoms, required less time off, and made it easier to do their jobs. Though participants were returning to working on campus in different ways at the time of the interviews, they consistently recommended making the flexibility they enjoyed during the pandemic permanent throughout academic library culture. In sum, these interviews demonstrate that when academic libraries forefront flexibility, they can create more inclusive and accessible workplaces for library workers with illness and/or disabilities.