Stress Reduction at Your Library
As a school librarian working in a bustling school library in New York where over 300 students a day pass through the library doors, I notice many of these students are frazzled, looking ahead to the next test, the next deadline, and the holy grail of college acceptance. It is evident that not many young adults, in my high school and beyond, are able to exist in the present moment without stressing about future events that may not occur. Despite the hectic and frenetic nature that encompasses a busy school library, there is still a calming presence that exists inside my library space beckoning students to slow down and take a break. Part of this mindful “zenenergy” stems from a recent library redesign that brought in updated furniture and a new layout encouraging rest, relaxation and quite spaces.This new furniture caught the attention of all the departments in the school, resulting in further collaboration with teachers across various subject areas. Everyone now wants to take advantage of the cutting edge library space, with different zones to accommodate student needs and diverse learning styles.
One department I have forged a relationship with through collaborative lessons in the library makerspace are the health teachers. What began as a pre-COVID lesson in our award winning stress reduction center, has now blossomed into an imperative student learning experience amidst a crisis of mental health and wellbeing for young adults in a post-COVID era (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2022). As part of the New York State Health Education Standards, and corresponding curriculum, students are immersed in a unit on stress reduction with a focus on learning and utilizing techniques to help manage the stress in their lives. After introductory lessons in the classroom, students visit the library makerspace with their teacher to learn and practice stress reduction techniques.
The makerspace in my school library was created to also serve as a zen zone that we often refer to as “headspace.” In designing the space, I utilized my background and training as a certified children’s yoga instructor to make the space functional for making and tinkering, while also providing a path to mindfulness. In addition to a plethora of self service activities for students to complete when they need a brain break during the school day, the glass walls of the makerspace are lined with posters I created linking QR codes to short meditative exercises to help students remain centered. These brief meditations help students focus during times of stress and are targeted to help relieve test anxiety and boost overall mood and wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to recreate many of these activities in a virtual headspace bitmoji room, with a QR code for easy access to hands on calming activities and brain breaks.
According to Kelly Maynard, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, “With consistent practice of gratitude, there has shown to be a number of benefits for our physical, mental and social well-being” (2022). Simply put, the brain cannot exist in a state of anxiety and gratitude at the same time. With this knowledge I open the lesson with a short body scan from Calm.com (https://www.calm.com/) and students then move on to a three minute gratitude journaling exercise. Prompts are sourced from various locations including Science of People (https://www.scienceofpeople.com/) and Writing Yoga (https://www.writingyoga.com/). The final step before students get up and move their bodies in the makerspace area is an introduction to the box breathing technique to lower heart rate variability and activate the parasympathetic nervous system (Tchiki). These activities build the foundation for stress reduction techniques that students can easily, and discreetly, incorporate into their daily routine. With practice and repetition these are tools that can be used as innate coping mechanisms to build resilience throughout their lives.
After completing the journaling and mindful breathing activities, students then move on to the tactile portion of the lesson. Utilizing various station setups in the library makerspace, students learn how to take brain breaks by shifting their attention to short, pleasurable tasks that take them away from a current stressor; to pause without electronics or falling down the rabbit hole of checking social media. “Scientific research reveals that the human brain can effectively take in up to forty-five minutes of information before its ability to take in any more new information diminishes, especially in younger minds. Allowing the brain a break through mental, emotional or physical release reduces stress and refreshes the mind” (Morton 2016). Rotating through stations, students and their teacher tinker and participate in activities including completing a Stick Together from Demco, building structures with Keva Planks, making sophisticated creations with the Lego Architecture kits, completing jigsaw puzzles, practicing knitting and crocheting, completing complex Mandala coloring pages and playing chess, checkers and board games. The lesson ends with a debriefing as students reflect on their mood before and after participating in the library activities. Additionally, students use a form provided by their teacher to monitor screen time usage during the week of the lesson and are encouraged to take a brain break away from devices rather than using social media to relieve stress reduction.
Prior to having a dedicated makerspace area in the library, students had access to these items on a cart through our award winning stress reduction center. The PTA took notice of its popularity in 2017 and funded our burgeoning makerspace with a generous grant. Today many of these items are purchased using my library supply budget; however I also solicit donations from staff and parents and continue to write grants to the PTA and SEPTA to keep the makerspace stocked with engaging activities.
The positive feedback from the fun brain breaks students take in the library prompted more teachers to utilize the makerspace with different iterations of the stress reduction lesson. One of the advanced placement United States history teachers, realizing the levels of anxiety and stress her students were managing, collaborated with me to have her students make calm down glitter jars in the makerspace by recycling old water bottles. We rounded out the lesson with a discussion about the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems and ended by creating vision boards with uplifting, positive messages to guide students throughout the year. In January, to celebrate the new year, the Spanish teacher and I devised an activity where students brainstormed inspirational phrases en Español and turned them into stickers using Google Slides to design virtual hydro flasks.
As the stress reduction lesson has expanded over the years, students now spread an attitude of gratitude in my school library all year long. The theme of our makerspace has become making with a purpose, empowering students to exist in this grateful and mindful state by giving back to others. Using the self service creation station, an extension of our makerspace, students create physical and virtual crafts that support the local and global community through service projects with organizations like Students Rebuild (https://www.studentsrebuild.org/), Reason2Smile (https://www.reason2smile.org/), The Kindness Rocks Project (https://www.thekindnessrocksproject.com/), Whales for A Cause through Vineyard Vines(https://www.vineyardvines.com/whalesforacause/whalesforacause.html) and Cards for Hospitalized Kids (http://www.cardsforhospitalizedkids.com/). Despite the turbulence and stress of the past two years, it is gratifying to see staff and students embracing small shifts in their daily routines to help them remain calm and centered as the result of a collaborative lesson that began in the library.
Sidebar Adaptations. Instead of a formal lesson, consider incorporating these tactics into daily instructions for all levels, K-12.
Sidebar 1:
Elementary Adaptations
Begin with these basic tips for mindfulness in elementary libraries provided by Demco (https://ideas.demco.com/blog/mindfulness-in-the-library/). If possible, work with the Superintendent of Curriculum to scaffold up instruction throughout library programs in the district.
Movement helps us to stay positive and helps to rid the body of excess energy. Completing a Go Noodle (https://www.gonoodle.com/) for just three minutes at the start of a library lesson can help students focus throughout the day.
Using a timer, have students sit in silence for a “mindful minute” before racing to book checkout.
Rotate carpet read alouds to focus on mindfulness using books in the I Am series by Susan Verde (https://www.susanverde.com/susans-books) choosing a different title each week.
Collaborate with the art teacher to have students create mindfulness glitter jars in the library makerspace area. Follow these tips from PBS Kids (https://tinyurl.com/3uapxsbs).
Sidebar 2:
Middle School Adaptations
The impact of gratitude on overall well-being and as a stress reducer are well documented. Have students practice small acts of gratitude, and kindness, using the Stick Together by Demco Gratitude Challenge (https://letsticktogether.com/blogs/news/take-part-in-our-march-challenge).
Pair general education and special education students together in the library makerspace to complete a Demco (https://www.demco.com/) Stick Together mural.The meditative focus required to complete this task,helps students be present, and comfortable with silence.
Create a self service Lumi Lab (https://www.writingyoga.com/) in the makerspace area of your library, offering options for students to help themselves calm down and practice stress reduction techniques.
Sidebar 3:
Whole Staff Adaptations
Use a graphic design program like Canva (https://www.canva.com) to design posters with QR Codes that link to self guided meditations.Place them in areas where faculty and staff will see them. For example, I posted a sunrise poster for morning meditation in our faculty room and a poster linking to a short meditation that helps cultivate an “attitude of gratitude” in the faculty bathrooms.
On particularly difficult teaching days, practicing gratitude can be hard. Encourage teachers to focus on the positive by leaving a “gratitude jar” in the faculty room. Lead by example, filling it with written representations of the little things you are thankful for. Even small thoughts of gratitude and kindness can shift a person towards a more positive mental state.
Assemble an informal meditation group, with the invitation extended to all members of the faculty and staff. This can include using Calm.com (https://www.calm.com/) guided morning meditations in the library before the school day begins, or walking meditations for fifteen or twenty minutes after the school day ends.
Offer professional development options for faculty and staff that focus on incorporating mindfulness into personal life and professional teaching practice. Options that have worked for us in the past include offering a book study around the books Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom by Patricia A. Jennings and The Headspace Practical Guide for Meditation and Mindfulness by Andy Puddicombe.
Bibliography
"Box Breathing ? 1 Minute in Length." Video. YouTube. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6RbW2LtdFs.
Brown, Krista. "Gratitude Journal: 35 Prompts, Templates, and Ideas to Start." Science of People. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.scienceofpeople.com/gratitude-journal/.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "New CDC data illuminate youth mental health threats during the COVID-19 pandemic." News release. March 31, 2022. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2022/p0331-youth-mental-health-covid-19.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20new%20data,hopeless%20during%20the%20past%20year.
Davis, Tchiki, MA, PhD. "Stress Management: Definition, Techniques, and Strategies." Berkeley Well-Being Institute. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/stress-management.html?mc_cid=47597ef866&mc_eid=11c3dcacd4 .
Jennings, Patricia A. Mindfulness for Teachers: Simple Skills for Peace and Productivity in the Classroom. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2015.
Levitt, Tamara. "Three Minute Body Scan." Calm.com. Last modified 2022. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.calm.com/.
Maynard, Kelly, LMHC. "The Impact of Gratitude on Well-Being." Behavioral Health Partners Blog. Entry posted April 2022. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/behavioral-health-partners/bhp-blog/april-2022/the-impact-of-gratitude-on-well-being.aspx.
Morton, Sheryl F., M.S.Ed. "Engagement Through Brain Breaks in the Secondary Classroom." Educational Research Projects 39 (2016). Accessed December 6, 2022. https://scholarworks.umf.maine.edu/ed_leadership_projects/39/.
Public Broadcasting Service. "Make a Mindfulness Glitter Jar." PBS Kids for Parents. Last modified 2022. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.pbs.org/parents/crafts-and-experiments/make-a-mindfulness-jar-or-calming-timeout-timer.
Puddicombe, Andy. The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness: 10 Minutes Can Make All the Difference. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2015.
Struckmeyer, Amanda. "Mindfulness in the Library." Demco Ideas and Inspiration (blog). Entry posted August 19, 2022. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://ideas.demco.com/blog/mindfulness-in-the-library.