In this special issue, we invite authors to share their experiences and insights on how MH&W and Mindfulness can become part of essential library services. Such resources are currently lacking and implicit.

UN-SDG 2030 agenda is also mentioned as “Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.” Point no. 26 under this goal states “To promote physical and mental health and well-being, and to extend life expectancy for all, we must achieve universal health coverage and access to quality health care.

We are committed to the prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases, including behavioural, developmental, and neurological disorders, which constitute a major challenge for sustainable development.”

According to WHO “Mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and can contribute to her or his community.”

Napoleon Hill (American self-help author) has given the simplest definition of mindfulness i.e. “Keep your mind fixed on what you want in life: not on what you don’t want.”

Dan Harris – Bestselling Author of “10% Happier” has also rightly defined mindfulness as “Mindfulness is the ability to know what’s happening in your head at any given moment without getting carried away by it.”

Mindfulness is simply a practice-driven activity to know your thoughts and act accordingly to conduct in different dimensions of being in society.

It is one of the important components of intellectual health, physical health, setting boundaries, etc. to work towards staying mentally healthy and taking care of the overall well-being of self and others in the surroundings.

The aim of this Special Issue is to encourage readers to think mindfully about their efforts towards taking care of their mental health and motivating others for the same. This special issue would be of interest to you if you ever thought “What are libraries or librarians doing in the Mental Health space?”

How can libraries contribute to the cause?

“Information Literacy” is one of the most powerful tools of any library service regardless of their type and scale. The library community can make a meaningful contribution by doing the below possible interventions/programs:

• Running community-driven Information Literacy programs for the community by the community.
• Promotion and implementation of MH & well-being programs for staff/students’ well-being.
• Help all pupils cope with predictable changes and transitions to keep abreast of new challenges posed by technology.
• A reward and recognition program can be done to motivate the implementation and sustainability of the program.
• Ensure high-quality implementation of specific programs and interventions, e.g. daily mindfulness sessions and breathing exercises.
• Promote intense work on social and emotional skill development for pupils with difficulties, including one-to-one and group work.

This Special Issue shares insights from our contributors on how the library community (comprising library professionals, users, readers, etc.) can promote and contribute towards spreading awareness on “Mindfulness and Mental Health & Well-being.”

Twanna Hodge leaves its readers with some important questions about self-realization, social conditioning, cultural identities, and self-introspection. How intentional reflection affects the mental health of all beings in a society.  She highlights the importance of the “reflection process” and how it helps in developing an action plan to take care of mental health and well-being.

Thirty-five powerful case studies from a consortium of thirty-three higher education libraries in the north of England, United Kingdom have been presented by Andrew M. Cox and Nicola Wylie. They shared the different interventions that are being done by the participating libraries to promote the mental health & well-being of the library community for its diverse users. The case studies can be accessed at https://www.academiclibrariesnorth.ac.uk/case-studies-aln-libraries#overlay-context=student-mental-health-the-specifics. These can definitely help in creating a roadmap for the libraries planning to advocate for mental health & well-being. The case studies have shown that spaces (calm spaces, switch-off zones), and building collections specific to the topic can help spread awareness.

With the ever-evolving societies, the role of libraries and librarians has transformed into a great deal. Libraries are no longer bookstores and are expected to come up equally as spaces and a firm voice for diverse literacy and advocacy programs. Lynne Bowker, Mikael Laakso, and Janne Pölönen present insights on the role of librarians in sharing the responsibility to create an environment for advocating Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB). How librarians can help spread awareness on linguistic and gender biases in scholarly publications impacting the mental health and academic integrity of the scholars. The authors share how DIAMAS (Developing Institutional Open Access Publishing Models to Advance Scholarly Communication) funded by the European Union can guide librarians to support the cause.

Pathum B. Rathnayake has voiced out the much-needed awareness of the passive consumption of social media content particularly on Facebook and Instagram and their negative impact on the mental health and well-being of its users. Regardless of age, gender, or demography, one should be mindful of using social media for meaningful interactions, discussing topics, creating and sharing content, and engaging with other users. Social media mustn’t be controlling humans and their behavior.

Libraries have been transformed into entities and become community spaces for several activities like calming zones, makerspaces, discussion rooms, and meditation spaces apart from the conventional hub of reading. Several interventions are being made to make libraries more inclusive spaces by seeking the active participation of its diverse users. Surabhi Mishra and Kanchan Nagpal present insights on the role of libraries in advocating mental health and well-being by organizing mental health camps, bibliotherapy methods, subject guides on the topic, collection development, and so on. Librarians now serve as vital community builders and supporters, while libraries have become hubs for community development.

Opeyemi Oboh places libraries as “Literary Caregivers.” Activities like personalized book recommendations based on reading history, creating book clubs, and guided swapping hours of social media scrolling for reading a digital book, etc. Libraries have become the synonym for lifelong learning and community building. Blended information services using digital tools can be offered to make mental health resources more accessible and engaging for people of all ages. Libraries will continue to develop innovative strategies to promote mental health as technology advances, establishing their position as pioneers in this field. Combining tales, technology, and community is the way of the future for literary care, and libraries are perfectly positioned to realize this goal.

In the path-breaking role, Timothy J. Dickey takes us on the journey of libraries catering to “Persons Living With Dementia (PLWD).” He mentioned that “Libraries can either act on their own as a community leader in developing dementia services or collaborate with other community stakeholders for collective impact.” Many public libraries have been supporting  Memory Cafés and the Tales and Travel program for their PLWD users. The programs offer regular mental and social stimulation to older adults and their caregivers and have shown great response. Libraries should continue strengthening communities through lifelong learning, mental stimulation, and social connections.

Sheng-Hsiang Lance Peng in her reflective piece shares the impact of unrealistic academic and professional expectations and constant rejection without substantial reasons on the mental health, and self-confidence of equally qualified and dedicated candidates. How institutions are customizing the core academic job profiles by including student retention as a core responsibility of tutors/teachers. She highlights the adverse effects of gradually developing “imposter syndrome” on mental health and well-being which impacts physical health too. Together as one academic community, we have to be more empathetic and practice kindness for the well-being of diverse communities at all levels.