Introduction

As discussed in Chapter 1, the aims of, and approaches to, bibliotherapy have changed over time. In the past, it was sometimes seen simply as a means of keeping patients content while therapies took place, but 21stcentury bibliotherapy has much more ambitious aims: improving social and emotional wellbeing and increasing confidence and self-esteem. As such, some early theories attempting to explain the positive results of bibliotherapy now appear simplistic: for example, encouraging patients with depression to read books with ‘amusing anecdotes or … jovial comradeship’ (McAlister, 1950, 356).

As the case studies in Part 2 illustrate, bibliotherapy activities that currently take place across many settings and with a range of target audiences report significant impacts on the quality of life of participants. But while much attention has been paid to demonstrating the effectiveness of bibliotherapy, finding out how it works has proved more challenging. A typical example is a study into the use of bibliotherapy to treat adolescent depression (Ackerson et al., 1998). Here, the researchers used a number of standardized psycho - logical instruments to compare a treatment group who took part in an intervention with a control group who did not. Based upon statistical analysis of subjects’ scores on these tests, the study concluded ‘bibliotherapy may be an effective treatment for adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms’. The readers’ responses to the book, however, were ignored and nowhere in the study were the readers’ reactions to the book or its content described (Dysart-Gale, 2007).

This chapter outlines some of the theories behind bibliotherapy and demonstrates how they relate to practical bibliotherapy initiatives found in library settings. This includes schemes focused on the individual, such as Books on Prescription, as well as collective activities such as shared reading, and those concerned with the consumption of literature, such as reading groups, as well as those focused on its creation – for example, creative writing groups. Practical examples from the case studies presented in this book are used to illustrate the theories described, along with findings from a study of health comics readers (McNicol 2015; 2017). However, before focusing on bibliotherapy specifically, it is useful to consider the notion of reading ‘stances’ more generally.