Inviting Belonging: Creating Welcoming Library Spaces through Relax and Read & Scenes from Back Home

Abstract

How can academic libraries design spaces that invite people to pause, breathe, and feel a sense of belonging? This session shares two initiatives at Oklahoma State University that reimagine the library as a welcoming destination for all. Relax and Read offers a browsable collection of leisure reading in the library lobby, giving students, faculty, and staff a respite from coursework and research while signaling that the library is for curiosity and enjoyment as well as scholarship. Scenes from Back Home transforms a high-traffic study area into a gallery celebrating the places OSU students call home, featuring rotating photographs submitted by students and displayed on a large digital art screen. Together, these projects cultivate connection, highlight community diversity, and demonstrate how even modest interventions can reshape how users experience library spaces. Presenters will describe planning, implementation, and lessons learned, encouraging attendees to consider low-cost, high-impact approaches for welcoming everyone into their own libraries.