Learning Environments: Exemplar G2

Standard: Designing Learning Environments to Support Participatory Learning

Theme: Designing for Student Well Being in the LLC

Growth Phase: Evolving

Growth Indicator:  LLC learning experiences are designed to support mental health and well-being.


This Ontario Library Superconference presentation provides theoretical background, context, multiple resources, strategies and illustrative examples (from the secondary school of one of the presenters) for how the teacher-librarian can help implement student well-being and mental health initiatives through the LLC.

Nunn, L.L., & Hall, R. (2014). Well-Being and Mental Health in the Library and Learning Commons at R.H. King Academy [Slideshare]. Retrieved from http://accessola2.com/superconference2014/sessions/1208.pdf


This inspiring article demonstrates how a teacher-librarian in an Ontario secondary school Library Learning Commons took a leading role in taking practical steps to implement the Toronto District School Board’s 2014 initiative, “The Children and Youth Mental Health and Well-Being Strategic Plan”. Strategies include carefully curating, building, and promoting collections and digital resources in the LLC for students, teachers and parents that reflect accurate information about mental health and well-being as well as physical space in the library set aside as a “calming centre” with reduced noise and physical stimuli, and implementing a mental health literacy curriculum pilot project and school-wide mindfulness program. 

Nunn, L.L. (2017, October 15). The Mindful Library: A Path to Student Well-Being, Mental Health Literacy, and Mindfulness in the Library Learning Commons. Retrieved from https://researcharchive.canadianschoollibraries.ca/2017/10/15/the-mindful-library/ 


In this article the teacher-librarian describes moving into a new secondary school with a spectacular library learning commons in British Columbia, then adjusting to meet the needs of staff and students as schools closed due to the covid-19 pandemic. Immediate tasks for the teacher-librarian included providing resources for teachers now teaching online, finding answers to copyright issues associated with open access, and creating systems to provide students with computers and resources. Includes photos.

Beaudry, R. (2020, June 2). Being a Teacher-Librarian During a Pandemic. Canadian School Libraries Journal 4 (2). Retrieved from  https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/being-a-teacher-librarian-during-a-pandemic/ 


Canadian School Libraries

CSL President Brooks Kirkland explores how students might experience “school library joy” as teacher-librarians and library technicians work to create welcoming spaces and inclusive collections, programs, and learning experiences as founded on school library professional’s ethical responsibilities in the framework for LLC management as referenced from CSL Foundations for School Library Learning Commons in Canada: A Framework for Success.

Brooks Kirkland, A. (2024, March 14).  Ethical foundations for school library joy.  Canadian School Library Journal 8 (1). https://journal.canadianschoollibraries.ca/ethical-foundations-for-school-library-joy/