Journal article
The library as a safe space in contemporary schools: An international study
IFLA journal, Vol.51(4), pp.1089-1097
12/2025
Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract
Fostering students' well-being is a priority in many contemporary schools, given the impact of well-being-related factors on other facets of students' lives, such as academic attainment. While school libraries can make a notable contribution to student well-being, there is a lack of international research exploring how they may act as a safe space and provide access to current and credible health-information resources. The International School Library Workforce Survey captured quantitative and qualitative data on school libraries as well-being-supportive spaces from 971 respondents in 63 countries. The majority of the respondents believed that developing students' well-being is typically a priority for schools in their country and, in the vast majority of cases, the school library is used as a safe space. The findings also highlighted a range of relevant themes that resonated across diverse contexts, including those explicitly identifying factors restricting the well-being-supportive capacity of the school library.
Details
- Title
- The library as a safe space in contemporary schools: An international study
- Creators
- Margaret Kristin Merga - The University of Notre Dame Australia
- Publication Details
- IFLA journal, Vol.51(4), pp.1089-1097
- Publisher
- Sage
- Number of pages
- 9
- Grant note
- This work was supported by the University of Notre Dame Australia (Research Development Grant number 2024-076F).
- Identifiers
- 991013372731102368
- Copyright
- © The Author(s) 2025.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article