Social workers who connect patrons to needed physical and emotional care. Quiet rooms for rest and relaxation. Robotic pets that purr away patrons’ anxieties. And grief groups to support patrons over the holidays. Over the past decade, mental health support in libraries has grown more inventive, specific, and widespread.
Institutions continue to innovate while meeting community needs, piloting targeted tools, dedicating roles and spaces to well-being, and investing in specialty programming and services for both patrons and staff. American Libraries spoke with workers from four libraries that are pioneering mental health practices in the field.
Supporting Staff Strategically
Oak Park (Ill.) Library
When, in 2019, Oak Park (Ill.) Public Library (OPPL) declared staff well-being an organizational strategic priority, its intention was to provide employees with opportunities like yoga and meditation. But Billy Treece, OPPL’s director of finance and human resources, says the imperative to think bigger became quickly apparent.
“We needed to address the causes of [staffers’] lack of well-being rather than the symptoms,” Treece says. “It was a wake-up call.”
After implementing wellness programs aimed at teaching employees new skills and helping fund their personal interests, OPPL earned a 2023 Citation for Wellness in the Workplace from the American Library Association’s (ALA) Sustainability Round Table. OPPL has a staff of approximately 130 people. Since 2021, turnover has dropped from 20% to 13.5% annually, Treece reports, and employee surveys show that indicators of workplace well-being and satisfaction—such as happiness, motivation, and positive relationships—have trended upward over the past two years.
Treece started this work by assembling a committee of about 10 full-time staffers to brainstorm OPPL’s wellness initiatives, with input from managers and directors. To incorporate more diverse viewpoints, part-time employees, assistants, and other workers were later asked to join.
The group’s ideas led to several initiatives, such as a rooftop beekeeping training program as well as revising work policies to include opportunities for flexible start times, remote work, and compressed schedules. Additionally, in 2023, OPPL instituted lifestyle spending accounts (LSAs) that reimburse each employee up to $150 annually for expenses that support well-being, such as gym memberships, marathon entry fees, and museum passes. In its first year using LSAs, OPPL reimbursed 71 staffers more than $10,000.
Other initiatives include a staff quiet room—separate from the employee break room—with comfortable seating and calming light, to let workers recharge or take a quick nap. Therapy dogs visit four times a year.
“Staff members frequently highlight our well-being initiatives in their comments about what makes the library a great place to work,” Treece says. For example, in a recent survey, one employee praised the library’s focus on wellness in “big and small ways” and wrote that it “shows a real commitment to staff that we can feel.”
A Road to Recovery
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Library in Parkland, Florida
In the wake of a tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDHS) in Parkland, Florida, a culture of care has become a pillar of support.
Library media specialist Diana Haneski survived the February 2018 mass shooting at MSDHS. Killing 17 and injuring 17 others, it remains one of the deadliest school shootings in US history.
“After the shooting, I was in a frozen state and not really well,” says Haneski, who returned to work when the school reopened two weeks later. “Once I felt better myself, my goal was to help the kids. I felt better when I was trying to help them.”
Haneski, a school librarian of more than 25 years, has since devoted many hours and resources to supporting students’ emotional recovery. This year, she was awarded ALA’s I Love My Librarian Award for her efforts.
One of those resources is River, a 6-year-old Bernedoodle and certified therapy dog who has become a library fixture since being donated by a dog breeder who wanted to help the MSDHS community heal.
River, who lives with Haneski and her husband, comes each school day to the library, where she is visited by students and staffers alike. River will stand at the door during class changes so students can come up and pet her. In the library, Haneski says, River will sit on the sofa next to a student or curl up with them on the floor as they work at a computer or table. Teachers have mentioned to Haneski that River seems to sense the students who most need her comfort in the moment. When there are no students around, after morning announcements and the pledge, River also enjoys a quick run around the media center, hoping someone will chase her.
“People smile just seeing her,” Haneski says of the school’s furry friend. “She has been the best thing. She works hard; she’s always on for us. She’s very much living large in the library.”
In addition to adopting River, Haneski has turned part of the library into a student relaxation area called the Zen Den, with amenities such as a zen garden, recliners, yoga pillows, antistress objects like squeeze balls, calming music, and space for quiet activities like origami or journaling. She also oversees a club that helps students develop coping mechanisms as the community continues to heal.
After participating in a program from the Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), a national organization that offers training on techniques like meditation and artistic expression, Haneski decided to become CMBM-certified. This required more than 108 hours of training in mind-body medicine.
She brings this training to MSDHS’s Mind-Body Ambassadors Club, the student group she advises. For most of the school year, students meet monthly at the library to practice techniques that help them recognize and address anxiety through guided imagery, breathing exercises, movement, and other methods.
Haneski says she avoids burnout by listening to her body and honoring the physical signs of anxiety or exhaustion. Pursuing a path toward healing was initially a way for Haneski to stay strong for her students, she says. But over time it’s evolved into a more personal practice.
“Here we are: We’re alive and trying to make the best from an awful situation,” she says. “Once I learned more about what people need and how much trauma there is in the world, I feel like this is my lane. I’m more comfortable this way than being mad at the world.”
‘Yoga for the Mind’
Air University Library in Montgomery, Alabama
Within one of the country’s leading military libraries, members of the US Air Force and other residents of Montgomery, Alabama, can use an immersive tool that promotes resiliency and mental strength.
Air University (AU), an academic institution headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, prepares officers and enlisted leaders for career challenges. “The goal is to produce well-rounded, resilient officers and enlisted personnel who thrive in diverse settings,” says Stephanie Rollins, director of library services at AU.
The Mayo Clinic recommends developing this resilience through relaxation practices like meditation or guided imagery, which can help stave off burnout or more serious mental health disorders.
“Being mentally resilient is integral to academic success,” says Rollins, who oversees Air University Library (AUL), a resource for Air Force members who are pursuing academic degrees, continuing education, and other professional learning opportunities. Part of AU’s priorities, she says, is developing students’ ability to manage the stress of a military career.
To that end, AUL has introduced a tool called MindGym. By wearing headsets while sitting inside a mirrored cubicle and participating in immersive physiological activities, users build resilience.
Once I learned more about what people need and how much trauma there is in the world, I feel like this is my lane. I’m more comfortable this way than being mad at the world.—Diana Haneski, library media specialist at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida
According to its Denver-based manufacturer, Lumena, MindGym’s 15 available programs use choreographed low-sensory lights and ambient sounds to immerse users in experiences that target focus and stress responses. MindGym also uses biofeedback to monitor physiological indicators like brain waves and heart rate so participants can learn to control them. Users, who book sessions for up to an hour, can create accounts to track their progress and customize their experiences over time.
Lumena likens MindGym’s benefits to those of meditation. Rollins says one early user described it as “yoga for the mind.”
“It feels like you’re floating,” Rollins says. “You’re totally focused and in the moment.”
MindGym is part of the Air Force’s commitment to “Five and Thrive,” a campaign launched in 2021 to address challenges faced by military members and their families, like access to health care and education, Rollins says. Part of the campaign’s “thrive” tenet is member resilience. Ten MindGyms have been installed at Air Force locations across the country; the product is also being studied in clinical research. AUL’s MindGym installation is the only one in a library. After university leaders decided to purchase MindGym, AUL was deemed a perfect location for it, says Rollins, since the 85,000-square-foot library sits in a central location on the base and welcomes more than 42,000 visitors annually.
While AUL staffers haven’t undergone formal training to operate MindGym, Lumena provides ongoing support. Between its opening in January and the end of March, it was used more than 175 times by members of AUL’s Air Force community as well as by reservists, local seniors, and library staffers. “We [don’t] need to advertise as much as I thought we were going to,” Rollins says.
She adds that AUL has long been prioritizing wellness efforts, largely through hosting mental health–related events, curating resources including scholarly articles on issues like stress management, and hosting mental health awareness events.
“It’s a fantastic extension of things that libraries already do,” Rollins says.
Teaming Up with Teens
Seattle Public Library
For Seattle Public Library (SPL), the pandemic exposed a need to support teen mental health through creative collaboration.
Using $250,000 in grant funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) CARES Act, in 2020 SPL embarked on a project that helps youth ages 12–18 create virtual reality (VR) programs that address their mental health. Project organizers say they wanted to help teens counteract the forced isolation of the pandemic by developing social connections and creating a judgment-free space for discussing sensitive issues.
“Teens are interested in technology, and VR provides an interesting point of entry,” says Juan Rubio, project director and SPL’s digital media and learning program manager. Rubio had previously brought successful educational VR experiences to SPL patrons. This project evolved from those efforts, as well as from an ongoing relationship with University of Washington (UW) professors in Seattle who are researching VR’s role in youth well-being.
“One of the things we really liked about VR is this idea of telepresence,” Rubio says, referring to the effect of a user feeling like they are somewhere else. “You’re there, it’s a 3D environment, it’s this embodiment you experience where you can be placed in a different environment or you yourself can be something else. That new form of experience in the digital world is really powerful.”
SPL’s project relied heavily on involving kids in codesign, a hands-on process that focuses on designing experiences with teens, not just for them. The library partnered with UW, DC Public Library, and Fayette Public Library in La Grange, Texas, for the project. During the process, Rubio says, participants articulated and externalized their thoughts about mental health.
The 12 teens in SPL’s codesign cohort received VR headsets and met weekly over Zoom for six months. A programmer from UW brought in concepts for a VR experience, collected feedback from youth participants on his designs, and used their responses to create prototypes toward a final product.
Feedback indicates that the sessions sparked discussions about mental health in a fun and creative environment. Participant attrition wasn’t an issue in the codesign portion of the program, Rubio notes: “If you give kids the opportunity to be creators, they will be with you as long as you want them to be.”
Being mentally resilient is integral to academic success. —Stephanie Rollins, director of library services at Air University in Montgomery, Alabama
SPL and its partnering libraries each created a VR experience as a result of their cohorts’ efforts. SPL’s final product, De-Stress Gardening, focuses on nature and the concept of constructive destruction, which lets users break down objects to make compost that fertilizes a garden. Rubio says the program gives users a healthy way to release emotions and practice mindfulness.
To help other libraries execute a similar VR codesign project, SPL launched the VRTality website, which hosts a series of informational videos and resources.
The project revealed that VR and the complexity of its technology posed barriers such as expense and expertise for other libraries that might want to adopt a codesign framework. “To use the famous word of the pandemic, we pivoted,” Rubio says. “We adapted the programming.”
Rubio says SPL plans to eventually return to its VR initiative. In the meantime, SPL has developed another program called Nourishing Minds with an additional $250,000 IMLS grant awarded in 2022. It aims to provide accessible codesign tools using similar concepts from the first project. Partner libraries across the country are testing the materials in their own communities.
The Nourishing Minds materials, Rubio says, help structure conversations with youth that foster creativity, inclusivity, and authenticity. The initiative has introduced new concepts—such as the tenets of acceptance and commitment therapy—not only to the kids participating in the program but also to the library workers directing them.
“When you are doing the work for the teens, you’re also learning it yourself,” Rubio says. “You recognize your thoughts and create a distance from them; that way you can change them or manage them better.”
