Public libraries facing unwanted loneliness: initial reflections from the SOLIBCM project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3145/thinkepi.2025.e19a15Abstract
Unwanted loneliness has emerged as a social challenge with demonstrated effects on mental health, social cohesion, and socio-economic costs. This article presents the conceptual and contextual framework of the SOLIBCM project, an applied research study that explores perceptions of unwanted loneliness among university students and its relationship with community spaces, with particular attention to public libraries. The project aims to contribute to empirical evidence in an underexplored field and to inform future lines of intervention that integrate libraries into strategies for the prevention and mitigation of unwanted loneliness.Downloads
References
Brewster, Liz; Cox, Andrew M. (2023). “Taking a ‘whole-university’approach to student mental health: The contribution of academic libraries”. Higher education research & development, v. 42, n.1 , pp. 33-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2043249
Casal-Rodríguez, Bruno; Rivera-Castiñeira, Berta; Rodríguez-Míguez, Eva (2023). El coste de la soledad no deseada en España. Observatorio Estatal de la Soledad No Deseada (SoledadES), Fundación ONCE & Nextdoor. https://www.soledades.es/estudios/el-coste-de-la-soledad-no-deseada-en-espana
Cuccu, Liliana; Stepanova, Elena (2021). Loneliness & social and civic behaviours (EUR 30929 EN). Publications Office of the European Union. https://doi.org/10.2760/802268
Dalmer, Nicole K.; McKenzie, Pam; Rothbauer, Paulette; Martin-Yeboah, Ebenezer; Oswald, Kevin (2022). Palaces for the people: Mapping public libraries’ capacity for social connection and inclusion. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/28142
Dolley, Joanne (2025). “Libraries: activated public spaces reducing social isolation”. En: Joanne Dolley; Keiran Hardy; Tony Matthews (Eds.). Public space and the sustainable development goals: Inclusion, safety, culture and nature, pp. 8–18. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing. ISBN: 978 1035322411 https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035322411
Faletar-Tanacković, Sanjica; Petr-Balog, Kornelija; Erdelez, Sanda (2021). “How can libraries support dementia friendly communities? The study into perceptions and experiences of Croatian public librarians”. Education for information, v. 37, n. 4, pp. 525-543. https://doi.org/10.3233/EFI-211560
Hall, Katherine; McAlister, Shenika (2021). “Library services and resources in support of mental health: a survey of initiatives in public and academic libraries”. Journal of Library Administration, v. 61, n. 8, pp. 936-946. https://doi.org/10.1080/01930826.2021.1984137
Ibáñez-Marco, Marta; Martínez-Cardama, Sara (2024). “Fear of missing Out (FOMO) en estudiantes universitarios: desafíos informativos e implicaciones para la alfabetización digital”. Revista general de información y documentación, v. 34, n. 1, pp. 85-97. https://doi.org/10.5209/rgid.93742
Kisilowska, Małgorzata (2022). “Fear of Missing Out, information literacy, and digital wellbeing”. En: Serap Kurbanoğlu; Sonja Špiranec; Yurdagül Ünal; Joumana Boustany; Denis Kos (eds.). Information literacy in a post-truth era. ECIL 2021. Communications in Computer and Information Science, v. 1533. Cham: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99885-1_15
Klinenberg, Eric (2018). Palaces for the people: How social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life. New York: Crown. ISBN: 978 1524761165
Larsen, Håkon (2020). “The public sphere and Habermas: reflections on the current state of theory in public library research”. Journal of documentation, v. 77, n. 1, pp. 251-258. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2020-0075
Lenstra, Noah; Peritore, Nicole (2024). “Public library partnerships for public health: Health in all Policies (HiAP) as a new conceptual framework for LIS teaching and research”. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, v. 65, n. 2, pp. 216-225. https://doi.org/10.3138/jelis-2023-0003
Observatorio del Cáncer de la AECC (2023). Soledades no deseadas en pacientes oncológicos. Más allá de la soledad no deseada. Asociación Española contra el Cáncer. https://observatorio.contraelcancer.es/sites/default/files/informes/Soledades%20no%20Deseadas%20Desk.pdf
Parra-Valero, Pablo (2025). “El educador social en la biblioteca pública: del acompañamiento a la transformación comunitaria”. Anuario ThinkEPI, v. 19, n. 1. https://doi.org/10.3145/thinkepi.2025.e19a11
Perlman, Daniel; Peplau, Letitia-Anne (1981). “Toward a social psychology of loneliness”. Personal relationships, n. 3, pp. 31-56. https://peplau.psych.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/141/2017/07/Perlman-Peplau-81.pdf
Ruiz-Villafranca, Raúl; Tuñón-Jiménez, Adrián; Fresno-García, José-Manuel; Del-Río-Hernández, Fernando; Sonat, Duygu (2024). Estudio sobre juventud y soledad no deseada en España. Fundación Once; Ayuda en Acción. https://www.soledades.es/sites/default/files/contenidos/Estudio%20soledad%20juvenil_V12_accesible.pdf
Sánchez-García, Sandra (2024). “La transformación social de las bibliotecas: luces y sombras”. Anuario ThinkEPI, v. 18. https://doi.org/10.3145/thinkepi.2024.e18a24
Santaolalla-Rueda, Pablo (2025). “Alone and unaware: An ethnography of unidentified and unacknowledged youth loneliness”. Ethnography, Onlinefirst. https://doi.org/10.1177/14661381251335848
Weissbourd, Richard; Batanova, Milena; Lovison, Virginia; Torres, Eric (2021). Loneliness in America: How the pandemic has deepened an epidemic of loneliness and what we can do about it. Making Caring Common, Harvard Graduate School of Education. https://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/reports/loneliness-in-america
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Dimensions