How do school libraries promote wellbeing?

School libraries promote wellbeing through providing a safe space, resources to inform and encourage positive mental health, as well as promoting reading which has been shown to have positive impact on perceptions of wellbeing. 

Reading for pleasure has been shown to impact all 4 dimensions of health. It improves:

  • physical, mental and emotional wellbeing — reduces stress and builds self-esteem, life satisfaction and curiosity
  • social and spiritual wellbeing — builds empathy, connection and a greater understanding of self and others.

 

The Great School Libraries campaign collected some case studies about how school libraries support wellbeing, you can explore them here. 

Children and young people who are the most engaged with literacy have better mental wellbeing than their peers

- Clark, C., & Teravainen-Goff, A. (2018). Mental wellbeing, reading and writing. National Literacy Trust.

"Reading as little as six minutes a day can reduce stress levels by 60% by reducing your heart rate, easing muscle tension and altering your state of mind"

- Dr David Lewis with Mindlab International at the University of Sussex.


Children often consider the school library to be a welcome refuge as well as a source of reading material. In a study where students drew pictures of their ideal library spaces, it was interesting to see that the common themes in the drawings included comfort and peace

- Hughes et al, 2019

Read more about school libraries and wellbeing

School libraries can be highly valued for their capacity to foster belonging and sanctuary and allow exposure to books and opportunities for reading"

- Margaret Merga, Libraries as Wellbeing Supportive Spaces in Contemporary Schools, Journal of Library Administration. 

"Children and young people who use the school library have, on average, higher mental wellbeing scores. Those who don’t use the school library are nearly twice as likely to have low mental wellbeing than they are to have high mental wellbeing."

- Dr Christina Clark, The National Literacy Trust

Explore our resources to support pupils wellbeing through our online courses, shop and further resources exclusively available to members. 

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