Session 5: 'Finding space for me’: exploring the benefits of reading and writing for wellbeing at university

Abstract

Curriculum Enhancement Internship Project funded by the Teaching and Learning Academy

Session overview:

The Bibliotherapy project at LJMU incorporates Reading and Writing for wellbeing workshops, with a related Bibliotherapy book collection (and wellbeing space) in both university libraries. Over the past three years students and staff have benefited from the workshops, and we have anecdotal evidence of the sometimes transformative power of reading a book that resonates with our state of mind, or the cathartic power of emptying our thoughts onto the page guided by creative prompts.

Funding from the Curriculum Enhancement scheme allowed us to employ three student interns to help us dig deeper and find out how the Bibliotherapy project is perceived and experienced. In our presentation we will share findings and reflections gathered by the interns to provide an overall evaluation of the project. By mid-June, the project team will have spent five months talking to students, academic staff, personal tutors, librarians and professional staff exploring, discussing, and reflecting on the three strands of the initiative: reading for wellbeing, writing for wellbeing, and the bibliotherapy library space and books. Our hope is that these insights will help us to develop ways of improving and developing the Bibliotherapy initiative, to ensure wider reach and participation.

As part of the Curriculum Enhancement project, interns were invited to develop creative methods to evaluate the Bibliotherapy project. We look forward to sharing these stories with you!

Key learning points from this session:

This session hopes to showcase the Bibliotherapy project for those not familiar with it, highlighting the benefits as well as the challenges of taking time for ourselves within the day to day busy-ness of university life.

We will describe the three strands of the Bibliotherapy initiative so that audience members gain a good understanding of what we do in our workshops (Reading and Writing for wellbeing), as well as gaining insight into our wellbeing book collection and how to make use of it.

'Finding space for me’: exploring the benefits of reading and writing for wellbeing at university PowerPoint. Only LJMU staff and students have access to this resource.