School libraries have long been places that support not only reading engagement, but also student wellbeing. Within this context, bibliotherapy is gaining attention as a way of connecting young people with literature in meaningful ways.

Bibliotherapy is often understood as recommending books to support particular needs or challenges, and this continues to be an important part of school library practice. Alongside this, there is also growing attention to how reading is experienced in school settings. Recommending books remains an important part of the work, but the emphasis shifts in how books are offered. Rather than matching texts to problems, books may be offered as invitations, thoughtfully selected for their capacity to open curiosity, recognition or reflection and met in the student's own way.

Across many schools, a quieter tension is present. In environments shaped by constant stimulation and competing demands on attention, this tension becomes more visible. Students are encouraged to read, yet many do not see themselves as readers. Time is allocated for reading, yet not all students read. Library spaces are described as places of wellbeing, yet the work required to hold those spaces is often unseen.

These tensions point to an underlying question about pressure in reading: not simply how to encourage more reading, but how to create conditions in which reading can be encountered differently. Reading may involve short texts and be offered in a slower, more open way without pressure or expectation.

An important question emerges: what happens when reading is no longer approached as something to be encouraged or achieved, but as something students are invited into, without pressure? Bibliotherapy offers one way of reconsidering this question. A presence-led, invitational model shifts the focus away from outcomes and toward the experience of reading itself, without shaping how that experience unfolds.

In some schools, a shift is beginning to take shape in small, often unnoticed ways. It can be seen where reading is offered without expectation, where silence is allowed to remain and where students are given space to encounter a story in their own time.

Reading identity and the limits of encouragement

A common starting point in school library practice is the desire to shift students toward becoming readers. However, the statement “I’m not a reader” is often more complex than it appears. For some students, the statement is not about reluctance  but recognition. It reflects past experiences, environment and personal associations with reading. Responding by correcting or challenging this can create distance. A presence-led, invitational approach allows that a student may not identify as a reader, and does not require that identity to change in order for a meaningful encounter with story to occur.

An invitational way of working with students

Students are not required to respond to a text or demonstrate engagement. There is no requirement to respond, interpret or explain.

In practice, this may involve:
· offering a short text without explanation
· allowing quiet time
· offering a simple invitation such as, “You might notice what stayed with you”
· allowing response or no response

The absence of expectation is central. In practice, this is often a small shift in how a reading moment is held, what is asked of students and what is allowed to remain open. Reading may involve whole books, but it can also begin with much smaller encounters: a poem, a paragraph, a short scene or even a single line. These brief encounters are often enough to begin. When reading is offered in this way, it is often met more slowly and at times something in the experience may deepen.

A moment in the school library

Students arrive. Some begin reading while others sit quietly or participate in different activities. One student opens a book, reads a page and closes it again. No comment is made. Later, the same student picks it up again. Nothing is said. The moment passes. Reading without pressure can look like this in a school setting.

Relationship before reading

In school libraries, the pathway back to reading is often relational. When students are known beyond their reading identity, a different foundation is formed and reading may emerge over time. Students who do not identify as readers do not always share a common language of books with adults, which can make connection more difficult. In busy school environments, it is often easier to engage with students who are already readers. However, when time is taken to know students beyond reading performance, through conversation, familiarity and presence, a different foundation becomes possible. Reading may follow, but it is not demanded as a starting point.

Creating space within the school day

Reading requires energy. For many students, fatigue is a real factor. Creating space involves allowing conditions where reading can occur without pressure. In this way of working, it is not only about helping students understand a story, but also about allowing them to meet it in their own way, without turning it into a lesson.

Practical examples might include:

• short, regular moments of quiet reading or listening
• spaces where reading is present but not required
• opportunities to encounter story without follow-up tasks
• a few lines at the start or end of a class

These moments may appear small, but they can shift how reading is experienced. Books may also be offered as invitations rather than direction.

The role of the school library

School libraries often become places of connection and quiet support. Staff therefore occupy a complex position, balancing professional responsibilities with relational work. A bibliotherapy-informed approach supports students through reading, while maintaining clear boundaries and recognising when further support is needed.

Working in this way is not passive. Offering reading with care is a skill. It includes thoughtfully selecting texts, noticing how students arrive into a space, offering reading in an unhurried and attentive way and allowing the pause after a text to remain undisturbed.

Working within constraints

School libraries operate within outcome-focused systems. The effects of reflective reading are not always immediately measurable, creating a tension between what can be counted and what can be experienced. A presence-led approach does not remove this tension, but offers a way of working within it.

Holding the integrity of reading

Reading is not reduced to a task or solution. When students are given space to encounter stories without pressure, reading can become something they return to. In this sense, bibliotherapy in the school library is not about changing readers, but about changing the conditions in which reading is met.

Want to learn more about Bibliotherapy in the school library context? Register today for ALIA's brand new course facilitated by Dr Susan McLaine.

About the author

Dr Susan McLaine is the founder of Bibliotherapy Australia and a practitioner-theorist in bibliotherapy. Her doctoral research was the first to explore bibliotherapy from the facilitator’s perspective, reframing the field as a presence-led, invitational practice. She develops professional learning for school library staff and library practitioners, with a focus on reading and wellbeing. She has worked as Education Officer at the Dromkeen Children’s Literature Centre, taught children’s literature and picture books at tertiary level, and served as a judge for the Children’s Book Council of Australia. She is also a published children’s author.