1. Bibliotherapy Education Project Paula McMillen & Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson Oregon State University Hawaii International Conference on Arts & Humanities Honolulu, HI: Jan 16, 2005

2. Bibliotherapy Education Project The birth of this four year project began with a cup of coffee and a simple conversation. We pondered on the use of books by various helping professionals. Spontaneously, we posed two questions to each other, “How do therapists, teachers, etc. know what books to recommend?” and “How do they choose and evaluate materials?”… …the project was born.

3. Bibliotherapy “a rose by any other name…” (AKA) Known by many names: Bilbio-counseling Biblio-guidance Biblio-psychology Book matching Literatherapy Library Therapeutics Literapeutics Reading Therapy And many more…

4. Defining Bibliotherap y Use of reading materials for help in solving personal problems or for psychiatric therapy Webster’s Collegiate 10th Ed., 1997 Literally involves treatment through books Pardeck & Pardeck, 1998 Guided reading of written materials to help the reader grow in self awareness Harris & Hodges, 1995 Process of dynamic interaction between the personality of the reader and literature under the guidance of a trained helper Shrodes, 1950

5. Benefits of Bibliotherap y Increases Empathetic Understanding of Others (cultures, lifestyles and lived experiences) Enhances Insight and Integration Promotes Coping Skills Provides Information and Alternatives Stimulates Discussion of Feelings and Ideas Increases Enjoyment of Literature and Reading

6. -Problem Statement- Books are widely used in clinical settings Limited training, tools or strategies for emerging or practicing clinicians Limited funds/materials for graduate students Criteria for selecting materials for a working collection Criteria for selecting materials for clients

7. The Learning Objectives To increase understanding of the uses of literature in therapy To provide a tool to help practitioners consistently evaluate materials To offer supervision in evaluating materials & use in therapeutic settings To build a library collection to support curriculum and research To increase the availability of evaluated books to subsequent students To increase the number of book evaluations available by making the evaluation tool more widely available To organize resources for learning about Bibliotherapy & finding books

8. Process: Web Relocation 1.Reformatting the Evaluation Tool –Paper & pencil  Web based –Narrative  categories, ratings, short answers –Library school intern 2.Tooling Up to Technology –Web design –Database design 3. Usability testing Graduate counseling students 4. Communication Regular team meetings Project E-mail list Other “stakeholders” 5. Sponsorship of the Web site Page appearance Ongoing funding mechanisms Administrative Support

10. Project Methods Literature review Articulate clinical criteria Expert face validity Learning module Student involvement Survey research Cross-disciplinary consultation Regular communication, feedback, input Mutual respect for unique contributions

11. Research Discoveries Literature Review –Widespread use –Years of research –Specific topics and populations –Few practice and evaluation guidelines Electronic development –Complex –Plan infrastructure to accommodate future research Graduate Counseling students tested pre- and post-learning module (self-report survey) –Significant increase in knowledge of Bibliotherapy benefits and uses –Significant increase in comfort level with using literature in therapy reported Clinical Supervision –Practice and teaching lead to competence

12. Future Directions Continued usability testing of overall Web site design Further development of database search options Increase flexibility of site and database structure for ease of maintenance Establish ongoing funding mechanisms Promote use to librarians and helping professionals to build database of evaluated literature Contain creativity and focus

13. Future Projects Create Librarian Guide Analyze Database Fund Student Assistantships Refine Evaluation Tool Create Therapist Guide Enhance Website Content Upgrade Website Functions Publish and Disseminate Refine Teaching

15. Lessons Learned You can’t over- communicate Regular meetings of the collaborators are essential for progress Find money! Aggressively solicit grants, donors, sponsors Collaboration is messy & complex but worth it!

16. For more information … http://bibliotherapy.library.oregonstate.edu Dr. Paula McMillen paula.mcmillen@oregonstate.edu Phone 541.737.7272 Valley Library Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon 97331 Dr. Dale-Elizabeth Pehrsson dale.pehrsson@oregonstate.edu Phone 541.737-8551 New School of Education 311 Education Hall Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon 97331