CEAS Library launches wellness collection

By Aja Bettencourt-McCarthy, Science-Engineering Global Services Librarian

As the semester progresses, moving closer to midterms, exams and final papers due, students need access to resources that support wellness and stress reduction. The College of Education and Applied Sciences (CEAS) Library is excited to share the launch of a new Wellness Collection. Done in partnership with the CEAS Tribunal, certain items in the collection can be checked out while others are to be used in the library. The Wellness Collection guide includes all the details about the collection.

Origins of the Collection

CEAS Tribunal brought a proposal for the development of a collection to the CEAS Library. Since the library has been interested in ways to support the whole student – outside of purely academics – (see our board game collection) we were immediately interested. CEAS Tribunal members surveyed engineering and non-engineering students to gauge interest in a collection like this and received positive feedback as well as recommendations for items to include. The CEAS Library also worked with the college’s embedded counselor, Amy Blankenship, to understand better the challenges students might be facing and the types of items that might be most useful. The current collection reflects both of these perspectives and includes items for check out and use within the libraries. 

Items for Check Out

The items in this collection can be checked out by members of the UC community for seven days at a time in the CEAS Library on the 8th floor of Baldwin Hall. Items for checkout include: a mindful breathing lamp, a phone lock to reduce screen time (and doom scrolling), fidget toys, sound machines, mindful cards, a timer for breathing exercises and more.

Items in the CEAS Library

For those needing a study break while in the library, items such as board games, coloring pages, Sudoku and more can give students time to relax or redirect between completing academic assignments.