Wellbeing at the library
From relaxing reads to comfort films, the library means more than just studying.
It’s Wellbeing Week on campus. At the library, we see first-hand how challenging academic life can be, especially as deadlines start to loom. But the library is more than just studying. Here is a line-up of ways the Library can help you unwind.
Enjoy the absolute best of cinema
The library’s best kept secret is that we have subscription services to more than academic journals. Using your university credentials, you also have subscriber access to the British Film Institute’s BFI Player. The best part is you can access it from anywhere. So, if trudging into EBL on a rainy day is just too much, cuddle up with the greatest global cinema at home, courtesy of the library.
You can also enjoy the Kanopy streaming service completely free. Simply select the University of Leeds as your institution, log in and go. Between the BFI and Kanopy, you will be able to find whatever movie, doc or tv show you need to recharge.
Don’t forget we also have an extensive DVD, audio-visual and music collection in the High Demand section of Laidlaw. It’s worth checking out for any music or film fan who enjoys browsing for hidden treasures.
Reading to relax
When you’re buried in journals and research and academic texts it’s easy to forget that reading can be enjoyable.
So why not check out Overdrive? It’s a subscription service hosted by the library with thousands of fiction and biography ebooks, audio books and magazines. From The New Yorker to Hello and everything in-between, if you enjoy high-brow, literary witticism or salacious, celeb gossip (and who doesn’t love just a bit of gossip), you can find it on Overdrive.
You can also download Overdrives’ app, Libby so you can read at leisure from your mobile device
And don’t forget, you can borrow books that aren’t from your course. So, if you’re a science undergrad looking for some escapist sci-fi and fantasy, or an art student who loves reading about the cosmos, play around on Library search, you’re guaranteed to find something to distract you from deadlines - just don’t get too distracted!
Wellbeing spaces
If you just need a quick mental health break, each of our libraries has a mental health breakout space, just look for the “Pause” banners and big purple chairs. These are spaces to take a little time to yourself and they have rotating activities like origami and colouring-in to help you release your stress. Edward Boyle are also running Wellbeing Wednesdays 12 – 1pm in this space, were you can chat and craft with staff.
And if making things is your method for mindfullness, check out our Makerspace on the ground floor of EBL. It’s packed with the best digital and technical tools for creative projects of all kind, with staff on-hand to help you use, master and borrow equipment.
Beats to study to...
Staff and students have also created this wellbeing playlist of their favourite relaxing tunes to study to. Why not check it out the next time you’re hitting the books for a study session?
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