On Oct. 16, the DiMenna-Nyselius Library hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new Wellness Room, an initiative to help students combat stress throughout the school year. The Wellness Room is the result of a collaboration between the library and the Wellness Center and features space to do yoga, engage in prayer, coloring books and even a massage chair.
Christina McGowan, Dean of the Library, and Martin Pino, Assistant Vice President of the Wellness Center, delivered some remarks, sharing their excitement about the collaboration and being able to provide students with more resources to manage their stress and well-being. Melina Calle, Director of Counseling, helped Pino cut the red ribbon tied across the door, and the space was open for ceremony attendees to see for the first time.
Though the Wellness Room is in the library, it is not just another comfortable space to get work done. Rather, it’s a space for students to take a breather and step away from their to-do lists and technology.
The idea came from a thought to expand the resources available to students during Cram Jam, an ongoing event at the library during finals that gives students the opportunity to take a break from their studying and participate in activities such as coloring and games instead.
Pam Paulmann, the Assistant Director of Health and Wellness says the idea came from the question, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a wellness room like that to have those resources available for students all the time and not just during exam time?”
Once they had the idea, the next step was finding the space for it. Lisa Thornell, Head of Library Outreach and Communications, shared that they found the space when the Office of Academic Excellence moved out of its location in the library into a new office in the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies.
The university’s Wellness Committee, which Calle, Paulmann, and Thornell are all part of, as well as students, helped provide feedback to make the space best suited for students’ needs.
“I think they’re automatically going to make their way to the massage chair,” Thornell says. Still, she made sure to point out that fidget toys and other hands-on activities, which she herself tends to enjoy, are on their way to the space.
Paulmann highlighted the space for yoga in the Wellness Room. “It’s hard to do that in the middle of the library; people might look at you, but if you come down here, you can stretch and release [stress].”
“[The Wellness Room] is a little bit tucked away in the library, so if you need to take a break from things… there [are] soft spaces in here – the couch, the egg chair, the massage chair. [It’s] a soothing ambience,” Calle says.
Thornell also made sure to point out that the Wellness Room is not entirely private. It’s a drop-in space, and students might be using the room at the same time. A sign on the door of the Wellness Room also serves as a reminder of what the space is intended for.
In addition to being a drop-in space, the Wellness Room is also a new place to host events geared towards mindfulness and managing stress. Both the library and the Wellness Center plan on using the space to host some events, such as stress ball making.
“We really want to support students in being able to take care of themselves,” Calle says.
Students who wish to visit the Wellness Room can do so during the library’s hours. It is located in room 106B, which is down the main stairs of the library and to the right, next to Global Fairfield’s offices.
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