Attached to Tales: A baseline study exploring librarians’ understanding of bibliotherapy and its application in a school library setting

Horan, Jennifer (2022) Attached to Tales: A baseline study exploring librarians’ understanding of bibliotherapy and its application in a school library setting. MPhil(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Since 2010, almost 800 libraries have closed across the UK, leaving limited free spaces where young people can access both education and recreation, to the detriment of their wellbeing. Declining mental health in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic will be a further societal challenge that would previously have found support from libraries. Bibliotherapy, the act of reading to improve mental wellbeing, is becoming a popular practice in school libraries across Scotland. This dissertation addresses the question of why this phenomenon has suddenly taken hold, and examines how well-equipped librarians are to lead it.

Based on a constructivist paradigm, this research investigates the role the library profession can play in supporting mental wellbeing. The study was comprised of two parts, with reader response theory being used to explore young people’s reactions to participating in bibliotherapy sessions, then, following this, ten librarians were interviewed about their experiences of facilitating bibliotherapy sessions. Reading appeared to improve young people’s mood, and the librarians demonstrated confidence in their ability to deliver bibliotherapy based mostly on their expert knowledge of children’s literature and the relationships they had fostered with the young people they serve. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to a wider mental wellbeing context.

• Item Type: Thesis (MPhil(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Subjects: L Education > L Education (General); Z Bibliography. Library Science. Information Resources > Z719 Libraries (General)
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Arizpe, Professor Evelyn and Farrell, Dr. Maureen
• Date of Award: 2022
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2022-83188
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 14 Oct 2022 09:01
• Last Modified: 14 Oct 2022 09:04
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.83188
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/83188