Barre with Justine

In my work on academic libraries and wellness, I’m often torn between a desire to embed wellness into every aspect of librarianship and the recognition that not every wellness trend could or should be a part of our work in a college or university library. As mentioned in my very first post on this website, I am that girl who “embraces every wellness trend…” and excited to try new wellness trends and consider whether or not they could enhance the lives of staff and students at the academic library.

In the course of reading and writing over the last few months, however, I’m slightly more wary about wellness and libraries. I believe my growing hesitation is in part because of growing pushback on the wellness industry such as Rina Raphael’s 2022 book The Gospel of Wellness and articles detailing some of the more questionable wellness trends, from buccal fat removal (eek!) to “lucky girl” syndrome. It’s one thing if I attend a manifestation workshop (yes, I did!) but is that the type of thing that belongs in an academic library? This is where things get murky, at least for me.

In a survey I conducted in the late summer of 2022, I asked college and university librarians and library staff to reflect on the more challenging aspects of incorporating wellness into libraries. In the responses, lack of time and budget were discussed but there were also reflections on how wellness relates to the main focus of academic libraries – space, collections and staff. I really appreciated this observation:

“I think libraries need to be very cognizant of scope creep and alignment of activities with our core purpose within the university. I think a wellness perspective is of benefit to libraries in that it helps us to translate some of our core values (free access to information, equitable services) with issues that students face in universities…”

Information Literacy for a Wellness Toolkit

That being said, I think there are natural convergences where the goals of the academic library fit nicely with certain elements of wellness. In this post, I’ll explore the natural fit between information literacy skills (specifically determining the authority of sources and questioning sources and credibility, loosely paraphrased from the Framework for Information Literacy) and the reality that many young people are using social media as their source for news, health information, personal finance, and career advice. When we consider the sources of information, coupled with the need to develop more robust information literacy skills (despite confidence in said skills), this is an opportunity for academic libraries to play an important role in educating students about authoritative resources and research skills.

Last year, my colleague Chelsea Humphries and I delivered a workshop about influencers and health information that is one example of an approach to linking social media experiences with the skills necessary to critically evaluate health information (resources available here). Beyond programming, highlighting authoritative sources of wellness information and being mindful of the types of books offered in “wellness collections” is important.

For students to be able to locate high quality resources and think critically about the information is a vital skill that has been a consistent element of library teaching in college and universities. Academic libraries are the natural campus unit to guide students through this development of critical thinking, which can become an important part of their wellness toolkit. You may ask how this relates to wellness…

If we pull out some of the elements of information literacy from ACRL’s Framework, we can begin to see how mastering many of the dispositions can help a student with all aspects of their life – from a research essay to their confidence with building relationships:

Frame & Disposition	how this may help develop qualities to enhance a student’s wellbeing:
Authority is constructed and contextual – develop and maintain an open mind when encountering varied and sometimes conflicting perspectives -develop awareness of the importance of assessing content with a skeptical stance and with a self-awareness of their own biases and worldview	-more confidence in sharing and listening to different opinions -able to question claims on social media, and conduct further research on the topic
Information has value -respect the original ideas of others; -value the skills, time, and effort needed to produce knowledge; -see themselves as contributors to the information marketplace rather than only consumers of it; -are inclined to examine their own information privilege.	–respect for the work of others -recognition of time management –confidence in their own ideas -able to self-reflect
Research as Inquiry -value intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods; -maintain an open mind and a critical stance; -value persistence, adaptability, and flexibility and recognize that ambiguity can benefit the research process -seek appropriate help when needed	-develop flexibility and an open mind -being open to ask for help -recognize the importance of curiosity

If we dive deeper into the qualities that information literacy helps to shape, we find direct links to wellbeing. Curiosity, for example, is linked to many benefits including greater happiness and higher academic achievement. Recognizing the need for help and being able to seek it out is important in all aspects of life and having confidence in developing and sharing ideas is an important part of emotional, social and intellectual wellness. When the Framework first came out, I don’t think I really understood how the new concepts would grow on me and reflect the deeper influence that the frames, along with the knowledge practices and dispositions would have on what and how we teach to students.

If information literacy skills can positively influence student wellbeing, does it affect us as librarians and instructors?

Since spending the last few months focused on wellness, I believe strongly that how we approach teaching is as important as the skills we are teaching. The approach isn’t dramatically different from the excellent advice for library teachers over the years. Creating inclusive classrooms, active learning strategies, accessible learning objects…these all play a role in student learning. In my mind, creating a more wellness-focused environment would take into account the various trends in wellness and the communication channels that students are using to better understand the delivery of information. *Please note: I’m not saying that we need to teach via TikTok as that could be unsettling and frightening for everyone involved (feeling my daughter cringe as I even type TikTok).*

Teaching in a way that encourages students to feel comfortable asking for help and building the confidence to ask questions and share ideas is another way to focus on wellness in the classroom, in a way that fits with library skills. In addition, offering opportunities for self-reflection (as an instructor and for the students) in the classroom rather than plowing through material is a more mindful way of teaching.

While wellness is a relatively recent trend in academic libraries, my sense is that we’ve already been building the whole student through our work teaching information literacy. I love the growth of programming like library yoga and therapy dogs, but this work has made me appreciate the value of the confidence, curiosity and creativity that can come from a solid grasp of critical thinking skills, as outlined in the Framework. It is definitely something we should discuss and explore in academic libraries and perhaps even take a moment to appreciate. 💗

References

Mahmood, Khalid. ‘Do People Overestimate Their Information Literacy Skills? A Systematic Review of Empirical Evidence on the Dunning-Kruger Effect’. Communications in Information Literacy, vol. 10, no. 2, Dec. 2016, https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2016.10.2.24.

‘Six Surprising Benefits of Curiosity’. Greater Good, https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/six_surprising_benefits_of_curiosity. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.

‘TikTok and Instagram Are Popular Sources of Health Information for Young People | News’. Research Live, http://www.research-live.com/article/news/report-shows-influence-of-social-media-for-healthcare-information/id/5109082. Accessed 14 Mar. 2023.