We increasingly are hearing terms such as psychological safety and inclusivity; these are particularly pertinent to libraries.

A school library can feature as central to a student because it can enhance the capacity of schools to foster and maintain student wellbeing. The library will very easily become a haven or a refuge for a child in many ways, in nurturing imaginations, inspiring new ideas, or in providing an emotional safe space.

In studies, students have conveyed feelings of connection which impacts on their emotional well-being, and peacefulness, enabling the chance to catch their breath and regroup before rejoining classes.

It would be simplistic to believe that students who gravitate to the library are necessarily avid readers, equally simplistic is the thought that ‘just’ buying books is all the school library is good for. The library as an institution means more to some people, so a well-resourced library might on occasion be better represented by its intuitive and well-trained staff than its stacks of books.

In 2020 three Western Australian libraries initiated a project called School libraries promoting wellbeing to assess school libraries with an qualitative, exploratory approach. Its aim was to determine how school libraries may provide safe and enjoyable spaces, provide resources on health and wellbeing, and facilitate reading for pleasure. The methodology was to directly examine user behaviour and motivation and the results were resoundingly clear; that students felt they belonged.