Cox, Andrew and Brewster, Liz (2020) Library support for student mental health and well-being in the UK : before and during the COVID 19 pandemic. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46 (6): 102256.
support_to_mental_health_and_well_being_v16092020_final_accepted_paper.pdf - Accepted Version
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Abstract
Libraries increasingly seek to support the mental health and well-being of students. This study reports on the results of a survey examining the range of such support activities offered by UK academic libraries prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic libraries' emphasis was on new library specific services such as a fiction collection, a type of initiative taken to proactively align with institutional policy. During the pandemic focus shifted somewhat to addressing the anxiety related to finding e-resources. Drawing on the survey data a holistic model of library support for student mental health and well-being is developed, capturing its eight different aspects: inherent library value, library services impact, well-being as a library service, detection, hosting, signposting, library as a good partner and library staff well-being. This represents a framework through which to examine how an academic library can support student mental health and well-being, and complements the “whole university” approach being increasingly adopted in the UK.