How Can School Libraries Support Student Wellbeing? Evidence and Implications for Further Research

Introduction:Community-engaged initiatives are identified as promising to improve the health of communities with limited resources. This review aims to examine community-engaged mental health/wellbeing initiatives across Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC) and under-resourced settings of High-Income Countries (HIC).Methods:We searched CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Scopus databases to identify eligible primary studies until August 2024. Studies conducted in English language, involving community members in the initiatives’ design or implementation and targeting 1 or more mental health/wellbeing outcomes, were included.Results:About 35 studies (n = 35) reporting 29 mental health/wellbeing initiatives across LMIC-(n = 24) and HIC-(n = 11) were included. Programmes with high community engagement, including community-led initiatives, consistently reported positive mental health and well-being outcomes, including reduced clinical symptoms and enhanced personal recovery and wellbeing. However, mixed outcomes on initiatives’ impact on quality of life and diagnosed mental health conditions were evident. Various challenges, including cultural barriers, were noted, as was a lack of involvement of people with lived experience of mental health challenges.Conclusion:Community-engaged mental health and wellbeing initiatives in under-resourced settings have shown the potential to improve mental health outcomes and well-being when actively involving community members. Future work should focus on scalable initiatives and active inclusion of people with lived experience of mental health challenges.Review protocol registration at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/367BK.

This study draws on data from a larger design-based research study on the impact of library redesign in three Singapore secondary schools, focusing on students’ responses about their revitalised library spaces. Focus group data ( N = 42) were analysed. Findings revealed that students appreciated a comfortable, peaceful and welcoming learning environment, and valued choice and opportunities for diverse activities within the library. Reading for pleasure, known to enhance wellbeing, was also supported by a well-resourced and designed school library. Crucially, students valued choice for quiet or noise-tolerant spaces within the library for different activities. The study underscores school libraries’ significance as multifaceted environments that foster student wellbeing, highlighting the need for continued investment in the enhancement and promotion of school library spaces. Recommendations for supporting student wellbeing through school libraries are offered, as well as suggestions that school libraries consider their role to support student flourishing.

The “Fiske Report” is the popular title for a study conducted in the late 1950s under the auspices of the University of California School of Librarianship with the financial support of the Fund for the Republic, a liberal philanthropic organization. The intended focus was the practice of book selection in school and public libraries, but the key concern that emerged from the study was the practice within the field of “self-censorship.” The period of study ranged from 1956 to 1958, with the final report published in 1959. A symposium in 1958 to investigate the social influences on libraries identified the primary cause of the censorious practices as the ubiquitous female gender of the librarians. Issues the research participants raised related to education for and development of professionalism within the field of practice received cursory attention, and the opportunity to engage the question of the social roles of librarianship remained unaddressed.

Bibliography of recent journal articles

Background: A growing body of research has indicated the importance of implementing community mental health initiatives in universities to promote student mental health and well-being. Designing and implementing community-based initiatives on campus can facilitate improved student well-being in a cost-effective way. Purpose: This paper provides a description of the implementation of a graduate-level university course grounded in a community mental health framework, which gave students the opportunity to become peer-mentors for other students within the university in exchange for course credit. Approach: The course took place over two semesters. In the first half of semester one, students engaged with theoretical and practical content that teaches them how to be a peer-mentor and support students’ needs. In the second half of the first semester, and over the course of the second semester, students used what they have learned to engage in experiential learning, where they acted as peer-mentors to their fellow university students. Conclusion: This university course provided mental health and well-being benefits to university students in a cost-effective manner while providing hands-on experience to students enrolled on the course to be peer-mentors. Implications: Experiential learning opportunities can be used to support student well-being while reducing the need for more specialist forms of mental health service provision.

Veterinary RecordVolume 175, Issue 24 p. 602-602 News and Report Helpline strengthened by mental health and wellbeing initiative First published: 20 December 2014 https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.g7690Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd...

The importance of developing and maintaining a regular and systematic collaboration between public libraries and school libraries is established. This relationship is crucial in Spain because of the precarious situation of school libraries. School libraries dedicate major efforts to reading promotion programs, therefore public libraries can collaborate with school libraries in order to promote information literacy programs. An example of this kind of collaboration is the program developed by the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, “Biblioteca-Escuela” [Library-School]. Through this program, the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez works regularly with schools from the city and province of Salamanca to encourage and promote the projects that support teacher’s work and information literacy.

The paper discusses the attitudes of teacher librarians in government schools in Sydney towards cooperation with public libraries and towards a sensible delineation of school and public library roles. Six case studies, based upon interviews conducted by the author, are presented. It is suggested that teacher librarians would like to cooperate, particularly with other school libraries, but that they need greater administrative support and leadership in order to do so. They regard cooperation with public libraries as a low priority, and see it mainly in terms of the public library supplementing the school library's collections. They rarely regard public librarians as colleagues sharing common professional goals.

This article considers current concerns with promoting student mental health and wellbeing against the backdrop of critiques of the ‘therapeutic turn’ in education. It begins by situating accounts of ‘therapeutic education’ within broader theorisation of therapeutic culture. In doing so, the importance of this work is acknowledged, but key assumptions are questioned. The emergence of concerns about self-esteem and wellbeing are then examined through an analysis of changing educational aims in Australia. This enables consideration of the broader context for policy reforms and emergent ideas about the importance of fostering wellbeing and attending to the social and emotional aspects of learning. Finally, the article argues for the salience of historicising both educational policy and scholarly critiques of therapeutic education in order to: (1) situate the contemporary emphasis on student wellbeing within a longer history of educational reforms aimed at supporting young people; (2) unsettle taken-for-granted ways in which mental health and wellbeing are currently foregrounded in contemporary schooling; and (3) develop new perspectives on the therapeutic turn in education.

Background: College students undergo a developmental transition from adolescence to adulthood, which can be challenging and make them more vulnerable to mental health problems. Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine the benefits of hanging out as a meaningful leisure occupation to deal with stress in college students and how hanging out can improve the mental health and well-being of college students. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological approach was applied. Data were collected using Focused Group Discussion with eight students who hanging out regularly 1-2 times a week. Results: There were two themes identified in this study: The first theme is hanging out meaningful leisure occupation with three sub-themes namely students’ perception of hanging out, hanging out as leisure among students, and benefits of hanging out as a meaningful leisure occupation. the second theme was the impact of hanging out on students with two sub-themes namely the impact of hanging out on student mental health and the impact of hanging out on student well-being. Conclusion: Hanging out provides many benefits for students, especially to reduce academic stress, and hanging out can have a positive impact on students' mental health and well-being.

Introduction Aim : To explore the mental health and factors that impact on the wellbeing of Pacific students in their first year at University. Methods : Twenty Pacific students who enrolled to study in the Health Sciences First Year at a University in New Zealand in 2015 were randomly selected to participate in this research. Participants were interviewed three times during their first year at University. The Pacific research methodology Talanoa was used for the data collection process. Of the 60 planned interviews, 59 were able to be completed. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and uploaded to NVivo to assist data management. Data was analysed using a thematic approach. Results Pacific students reported on their experiences of various stresses during the year. Some stress was related to their own personal expectations and others due to expectations of others. Students experienced a range of emotions and symptoms in response to these stresses. Many had developed skills or effective management strategies to deal with these stresses. For many, resilience contributed to maintaining wellbeing. In addition, families, friends, peers, mentors, supportive staff and targeted Pacific support services played critical roles in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of Pacific students in the first year at University. Conclusion There is increasing concern worldwide about students’ mental health and wellbeing in higher education. Pacific students felt stressed for many reasons which affected their mental health in the first year at University. Their resilience and other coping skills and connecting to a wide support network enabled them to maintain wellness. Pacific students or those from minority groups are likely to require different and or more support to enable them to adapt to the higher education environment. Strengthening and facilitating access to support networks and culturally relevant services, and increasing connectedness and sense of belonging, are important for Pacific students’ mental health and wellbeing in the tertiary environment.

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the mental health and well-being of students. An effective method that can enable students to cope with difficult times is to help them realize their inner potential. Following the stimulus-organism-response model, this study developed a theoretical framework that deepens our understanding of an environmental stimulus (fear of COVID-19) that is experienced by students; struggle within the organism (learning stress, learning involvement, and academic concerns); and the psychological response (psychological well-being). The findings clarified how the fear of COVID-19 affects the psychological well-being of university students and revealed the moderate role of academic self-efficacy in this process. Some systematic practical advice was provided to higher education institutions to develop effective interventions to protect the mental health of college students and establish strategies to promote their inner potential.

Many U.S. teens spend hours each day communicating with friends via social technologies like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Flickr. To develop a better understanding of the state of library support of teens' social technology practices, we are conducting a national survey of a representative sample of 750 public and 750 school libraries in the United States about their current policies and social media strategies. Preliminary results indicate that public and school libraries' use of social media differ in terms of policy and strategies, and that rather than enabling libraries to harness the power of social networking tools, library policies often serve as use barriers.

Purpose: Clinical supervision is an incredibly meaningful endeavor that has a significant impact on the lives of graduate students. Despite the codification of supervisory standards and requirements, as well as a growing list of training and resources related to clinical supervision, there has been little focus on the effect that individual supervisors can have on student well-being. This article describes the role that supervisors play in supporting student growth and well-being and introduces seven essential supervisor characteristics meant to serve as a self-reflective guide to ensure supervisor readiness to support the whole student. Conclusion: When preparing to engage in clinical supervision, supervisors consider these seven essential supervisor characteristics as a guide to reflect on their readiness to effectively foster student growth, mental health, and well-being.

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to determine the types of collaborative activities public youth services and school librarians in rural locations engage in and to ascertain whether there are methods that youth service librarians believe can be employed to improve collaborative activities with public school librarians. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method design was implemented with an online self-administered survey. The survey contained open and closed-ended questions. Findings – The findings indicate that many public librarians serving youth in rural locations find it important to collaborate with school librarians. Yet, they struggle to build strong collaborative relationships. Factors such as time, a lack of school librarian administrative support, and a lack of understanding about the roles of school librarians and public librarians, are collaborative barriers. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to a purposive sample of 80 public librarians serving youth in rural areas in the United States. Practical implications – Librarianship training programs can help school librarians and youth services librarians learn how to form collaborative partnerships through mentorship programs, requiring pre-service school and youth services librarians to collaborate on projects, and educating them about the similarities in their goals. School and public librarians can also benefit from training to teach them how to build community partnerships. Originality/value – The results provide evidence that public librarians serving youth in rural areas favor building stronger collaborative relationships with school librarians. Building these relationships can improve the quality of education for youth in these locations. This article also includes proposed strategies for improving these relationships.