With finals season quickly approaching, the Wellness Center and Campbell Library have many programs to offer students in preparation.
“Coming to the library is not always about work, it’s about taking a break and we definitely want to offer those options,” said Nancy Demaris, interim director for collections and user services at Campbell Library.
This year specifically, the library has put an emphasis on helping students with their mental health while partnering with the Wellness Center during finals week.
Demaris recalls that sometimes they host yoga sessions, make stress ball stations, and bring therapy dogs in to pet and play with while also extending their operating hours.
“We’re open until 2 a.m., and that goes for a period of about 10 to 12 days. We have lots of snacks that we give out to the students during that time. We do coloring pages, puzzles, and we put Legos out,” Demaris said.
Assistant Director of Well-being Programming and Communication at the Wellness Center Brittany Auleta explained what the Wellness Center is providing to students during this time.
“The Wellness Center is not hosting any one-specific event, but we are partnering with Academic Support Programs and Campus Rec, both of whom are planning larger events for students on Wednesday, December 13, Reading and Review Day,” Auleta said.
To support students through the stress of finals season, the Wellness Center is providing Pet Therapy, Uwill, Let’s Talk, and Crisis Support. Uwill is a service that provides students with free, unlimited, 30-minute teletherapy appointments. Let’s Talk are 20-minute drop-in sessions with Wellness Center counselors.
To contact Crisis Support, call 856-256-4333 or Public Safety at 856-256-4911.
Demaris added, “I’ve been on this campus for five years and when I came here, I was very intentional on making this a fun space. It’s a place of study, but students can feel welcome and they can feel relaxed.”
This semester, the library has held themed events each month. October was Camp Campbell, with activities such as making friendship bracelets and drawing with sidewalk chalk. November was Mystery Month, with activities like a scavenger hunt and guessing the title of a shredded book. At the front desk, there are also positive quotes and a whiteboard with a weekly question.
Starting in May of 2024 after commencement, the library will undergo renovation. While there will not be any additions, there will be physical changes made inside the building. This will include an area for Information Resources and Technology and Rowan’s Thrive center.
According to Elliot Brandow, the director of research and instruction, this is a year of “pilots and experimentation” for the library. They are currently working on a recording booth, a Family Study Space, and a Diverse Collections area.
The Family Study Space will be an area where students can bring their children while still focusing on their own studies. The recording booth will be an area where students can record podcasts or presentations with professional lighting, cameras, and microphones. The Diverse Collection will include thousands of new books, driven by student suggestions and ideas. Campbell Library will be partnering with three independent bookstores that are BIPOC and queer-owned. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. The bookstores will include Uncle Bobby’s, Amalgam, and Giovanni’s Room.
“The diversity of our collections, which has been built over 100 years, is not reflective of the community right now. Both in terms of the subject matter and of other topics. Rowan has evolved, the curriculum has evolved, all the research needs have evolved. We want our collections to reflect the real research needs and the compositional diversity of our student body and our faculty,” Brandow said.
Brandow explained the importance of the Diverse Collection to students.
“We’re trying to make sure we have material that is grappling with issues that matter to students and a real connection to academics, but also to the conversations that are happening in the world right now,” Brandow said.
The library is putting an emphasis on making students feel safe and comfortable in the space.
“There’s a lot in library literature, in higher education literature, about students who feel a sense of intimidation, or a lack of belonging. A lot of what we’re doing and a lot of what these amazing folks are doing is to break that down and make it less intimidating. We’re making the space more inviting and welcoming so that students will use the other resources too,” Brandow said.
Campbell Library can be found on Instagram and X @rowanlibraries.
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