The Hive Mind: supporting community wellbeing in an integrated public and university library

As Europe’s first fully integrated public and university library, The Hive is a truly inclusive building serving a broad range of audiences and offering unique opportunities for university and community engagement.

This session will focus on two wellbeing initiatives delivered at The Hive this year: a year-round Study Happy programme, aimed at university and local GCSE, sixth form and further education students, and a one-off series of mental health events delivered by the University’s staff mental health network for a public and university audience.

It will explore the design, delivery and impact of Study Happy, an initiative originally inspired by other successful university library campaigns, which has developed to reflect our inclusive model and is now delivered in collaboration with local schools and colleges as well as University of Worcester staff and students. It will also address a series of University-led community events, focusing on menstrual and menopausal health, male body image, and eating disorders, delivered with Time To Talk funding as part of Mental Health Awareness Week.

In this session we aim to share our experience of supporting wellbeing in a library setting with practical advice about planning, promoting and evaluating one-off and longer-term wellbeing initiatives and an insight into what has, and hasn’t, worked for our service.