Family-Friendly Study and Research Spaces: Implementing Inclusive Design in Academic Law Libraries

Abstract Academic law libraries are generally considered a welcoming environment for law students, faculty, scholars, or attorneys engaging in legal research or study. However, the inverse is true when it comes to patrons who wish to or need to use the law library alongside their children. While law schools across the nation are implementing innovative strategies to promote diversity and inclusivity, in part, by incorporating the needs of parents attending these institutions, law libraries have yet to emulate or initiate independently many of these same family-centric approaches to increase inclusivity for law students and improved access to justice for other patrons within the library environment. A financially feasible way for academic law libraries to meet these objectives involves the creation of family-friendly spaces that are specifically designed to provide appropriate areas for patrons to research with their accompanying children.