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It has been said that the role of the librarian is to provide the right book to the right person at the right time. It is certainly true that librarians are information providers who utilise their skills to connect library users with fiction and nonfiction texts through a variety of stock management and reader development techniques. They also make a positive contribution to the mental health and wellbeing of those who utilise the library in their community, through informal acts such as helping people find books, discussing books with readers, and fostering reading groups.
This is the fast of three bibliotherapy articles by Liz Brewster published in ApUs with the permission of the editor of the 'Public library journal'. The first article was 'Medicine for the soul: bibliotherapy ApUs 21(3) September 2008 ppll 5-119. The second was 'The reading remedy: bibliotherapy in practice' ApUs 21(4) December 2008 ppl 72-1 77.
The basic premise of bibliotherapeutic work is to provide health information and support using books. The research on which this article is based identified three subsections of bibliotherapeutic practice
* self help bibliotherapy - the prescription of nonfiction, advisory books about mental health conditions like depression.
* creative bibliotherapy - the use of fiction, poetry, biographical writing and creative writing to improve mental health and wellbeing.
* informal bibliotherapy - the use of creative bibliotherapy techniques in an unstructured manner, including reading groups, recommendations from staff and displays in the library. This approach can be strengthened by close relationships between librarians and their communities.
Hicks1 estimates that there were over 80 local authorities operating bibliotherapy schemes in the UK in 2006. This number has continued to grow, with the nationalisation of aspects of bibliotherapeutic work in Wales. The majority of these schemes fall into the first category: they work to supply a recommended list of clinical self help texts to people with mild to moderate depression and anxiety, often under the banner of Books on Prescription. These schemes are frequently run in conjunction with the local primary health care trust, and have a distinctly medical focus.
There are also schemes that use fiction more creatively to support people with mental health problems. These creative bibliotherapy schemes, including Reading and You (Rays) in Kirklees and...