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Libraries - a vital community lifeline

we learn from a young age how to manage our mental health and meet our emotional needs. Teenagers’ brains experience significant changes as they grow older. And to ensure they are equipped to support their mental health into adulthood, awareness is key.

“These sessions are aimed at teaching young people to recognise the emotional needs they should meet to maintain positive wellbeing. By doing so, not only can they look after themselves, but they can also look out for their peers.” partners. From providing much needed essential resources during the cost of living crisis such as a warm, welcoming space, free digital access and free coffee and healthy fresh fruit and veg to running support groups such as ‘Men Can Talk’ (men’s mental health), LGBTQIA+, Knit and Natter and ‘We Are Radikl’ (a network for fledgling female entrepreneurs), libraries in Suffolk are increasingly recognised as the first port of call for anyone in need of wellbeing support, social connection and impartial information. With new initiatives being introduced on a regular basis, including the upcoming Menopause / Perimenopause support service, Suffolk Libraries continue to respond to changing needs. Signposting to other specialist assistance is also a key aspect of the role that the libraries have in the community, ensuring that expert help - for example the warm handover and domestic abuse safe spaces services - is made easily accessible to those that need it most.

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Suffolk Mind says we should meet 12 physical and emotional needs to maintain positive mental health. They are: sleep, movement, food and drink, security, control, attention, status, community, privacy, emotional connection, achievement, and meaning and purpose. More information can be found on Suffolk Mind’s new website: www.suffolkmind.org.uk.

Simply put social value is a means of quantifying the importance people place on changes they experience in their lives. The study brings to life libraries’ unique ability to support the NHS’s preventative health agenda which is now being delivered through integrated care systems.

According to new independent research, Suffolk Libraries is leading the way to exemplify the dramatically evolved and important part that libraries play in the local community. The study revealed that thanks to their pivotal role in supporting communities, the county’s libraries generated £41m worth of social value, translating to £6 social value for every £1 invested and saving NHS services in Suffolk a whopping £542K.

With a wide range of free, wellused and much needed services across its 45 sites in the county, Suffolk Libraries offers a vital lifeline to local communities, encompassing all ages from babies and toddlers through to older people and including some of the most vulnerable. Extending far beyond the traditional lending of books and digital media, the pioneering library service is unique in being the first and only library provider with a dedicated community mental health and wellbeing team, and also in empowering its local managers to identify the specific needs of the local community. Suffolk Libraries is already a key preventative mechanism that can stop people from requiring urgent intervention. It tackles key societal challenges such as meeting basic social needs, mental health support and combatting isolation and loneliness - improving wellbeing across communities and positively changing lives.

Considered as a safe space, accessible to anyone, the research has shown that libraries provide a community hub with an almost limitless ability to make stigma-free social connections, regardless of background or financial status.

Activities include groups and clubs, space provision and hosted events, financial services, talks, walks and performances, friends groups and volunteering activities. All hosted by library staff, volunteers and outside

Targeted services, such as those provided to parents of young children are also proving very popular, providing a welcoming environment where children can socialise and learn while parents benefit from connecting with peers. The study has shown that young children gain better language and social skills through regular exposure to new people and environments.

Bringing IT into the lives of 11,000 people who do not have digital access, the research details how Suffolk Libraries has improved social and family engagement for those with geographically distant relationships while also enhancing education and employment opportunities by providing access to job clubs and helping local community members acquire new skills.

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