Student Volunteers as Academic Saviours and Social Connectors among the Visually Impaired in an Academic Library

Abstract

The number of students with disabilities enrolling in universities in Malaysia is increasing. Previous studies were library-focused, examining status of services provided for the disabled. This paper approaches the issue from the visually impaired person’s (VIP) perspective. The questions this paper aims to answer are, What sort of use do VIPs make of their student volunteers? and, How does a service like student volunteers contribute to sense of belonging to the library? The study uses the qualitative approach. Data was collected through interviews and focus group discussions with eighteen VIPs who are registered in a university library. For trustworthiness of data, prolonged engagement, member checking, and audit from experts are used. Student volunteers were perceived of having two main roles. Firstly, the VIPs perceived student volunteers as their academic saviours for searching, reading, borrowing and discussing assigned reading materials with them. Volunteers provided the VIPs with the opportunity to interact socially with sighted students, become their friends, interact socially outside reading times, and introduced them to other sighted students to help them find additional volunteer readers. These roles enrich VIPs’ academic, social and emotional lives. VIPs expressed being grateful, felt cared for, respected, connected and belonging to the library and university student community