Overview of the Study
This study aims to uncover the important but often overlooked role that librarians play in providing social-emotional support to teenagers. As mental health challenges among adolescents rise, libraries are crucial spaces not just for learning, but also for emotional support and comfort.
What We Aim to Explore
- Forms of Support Offered by Librarians: We want to understand how librarians help teenagers emotionally. This includes things like listening to their problems, giving guidance, and helping them find resources that improve their well-being.
- Challenges Librarians Face: We aim to identify the difficulties librarians encounter while trying to provide this support. Understanding these obstacles is key to finding ways to help librarians better serve teenagers’ emotional needs.
- Impact of Librarian Support on Teenagers: By examining the effects of the support provided by librarians, we hope to show how this assistance benefits teenagers. This includes looking at how it helps them deal with personal and social challenges.
- Factors Contributing to Effective Support: We seek to identify what makes librarian support effective. This includes looking at the environment of the library and the skills of the librarians.
Why This Matters
The insights gained from this study will help improve how libraries support teenagers. By understanding the role of librarians in offering social-emotional support, we can develop better policies and practices to enhance this aspect of library services. Our ultimate goal is to ensure libraries can act as safe havens where teenagers can build resilience, emotional intelligence, and overall well-being, enriching their educational experience and personal development.
How We Will Conduct the Study
To achieve these goals, we will conduct interviews and record journal entries with librarians. This will help us gather a comprehensive view of the support provided and the challenges faced.
Expected Outcomes
We hope to provide actionable insights that will:
- Enhance the ability of librarians to support teenagers effectively.
- Inform policymakers and library administrators about the importance of integrating social-emotional support into library services.
- Promote libraries as key spaces for the social and emotional development of teenagers.
By highlighting the critical role librarians play and identifying ways to support them, this study aims to make libraries even more valuable resources for teenagers in need of emotional and social support.
Want to Participate?
We are no longer enrolling participants for this study. For updates follow @Dr_JoeSan on X (twitter).
Dr. Joe Sanchez, the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College – City University of New York. IRB 2024-0270-QC
