On Jan. 25, the Meredith College Counseling and Disability Services Instagram page shared an image announcing that the Carlyle Campbell Library has a new student mental health collection, available on the library’s website and on the library’s main floor. The call number for these resources is “MHW.”
There are a variety of topics and self-help books that have been neatly categorized for convenience. Some examples of these topics include anxiety, depression, LGBTQ identity, relationships, trauma and more.
Jeffrey Waller, Head of Research and Instruction at the library, said that these books and resources were initially curated through online search by multiple librarians on Amazon. Waller added that upon showing these resources to the Counseling Center, they “suggested a number of additional books that they often recommend to students, and [the library] bought those too.” The intent of this section is multi-faceted in that it is meant to be easily accessible in one place, as well as to “support the work of Meredith's Counseling Center” such that they can refer students to the library to check out any books that may be helpful to them.
When asked about the effectiveness of this new section, Waller acknowledged the importance of getting help from counselors but noted that “sometimes students want to work through their own issues.” Each of the books, worksheets and activities was selected with the young adult in mind. They are meant to be resources that can be completed relatively quickly but can still have “a real impact.”
In addition to this, a companion webpage has also been created. Waller noted that this webpage has books from the library’s mental health collection as well as “links to similar ebooks that can be accessed 24/7.”
Beyond the changes already made, Waller emphasized that the library welcomes any suggestions students might have for this new collection. The purpose behind this idea is to be inclusive and meet the needs of the student body.
By Shae-Lynn Henderson, Features Editor