Purpose

To discover how UK academic libraries sought to support student mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The data was from a 24-question survey of UK universities distributed in May 2021 which received 56 responses from 47 different Higher Education Institution libraries. Descriptive statistics are combined with thematic analysis of open text comments.

Findings

Libraries were undertaking a wide range of activities, targeted chiefly at students and broadcast via Twitter, other social media and library web sites. The problem being addressed was the stresses of studying in the context of the pivot online and isolation caused by social distancing. Digital well-being seemed also to be an increased concern. COVID-19 had proved the value of digital support but created a number of challenges such as loss of physical space, communication barriers and lack of extra resource. The role had a somewhat informal place in the organisation. Overall library activities were aligned but not strongly integrated into institutional efforts.

Research limitations/implications

This was a study in one specific national context with a relatively limited number of total responses. There could be a non-response bias where respondents were doing more than was typical in the sector.

Originality/value

The paper is one of the first papers to gather sector wide data and move beyond case studies of what individual libraries due to support to mental health and well-being. It also offers a case study of the impacts of COVID-19 on management pointing to its catalysing the digital shift, creating constraints on resources and communication and prompting the emergence of staff well-being as a consideration in management decision making.

中文翻译：

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一致但未整合：英国学术图书馆在 COVID-19 期间对心理健康和福祉的支持

目的

了解英国学术图书馆如何在 COVID-19 大流行期间寻求支持学生的心理健康和福祉。

设计/方法/方法

该数据来自于 2021 年 5 月对英国大学进行的一项包含 24 个问题的调查，该调查收到了来自 47 个不同高等教育机构图书馆的 56 份回复。描述性统计与开放文本评论的主题分析相结合。

发现

图书馆开展了广泛的活动，主要针对学生，并通过 Twitter、其他社交媒体和图书馆网站进行广播。正在解决的问题是在网络枢纽和社交距离造成的孤立的背景下学习的压力。数字福利似乎也越来越受到关注。COVID-19 已经证明了数字支持的价值，但也带来了许多挑战，例如物理空间的损失、沟通障碍和缺乏额外资源。该角色在组织中具有某种非正式的地位。图书馆的整体活动是一致的，但并未与机构工作紧密结合。

研究限制/影响

这是在一个特定国家背景下进行的一项研究，总答复数量相对有限。如果受访者的行为超出该行业的典型水平，则可能存在不回复偏差。

原创性/价值

该论文是首批收集全行业数据的论文之一，并超越了个别图书馆因支持心理健康和福祉而进行的案例研究。它还提供了一个关于 COVID-19 对管理层影响的案例研究，指出其催化了数字化转变，对资源和沟通造成了限制，并促使员工福祉成为管理决策中的一个考虑因素。