Whiteboards, Blanket Forts, and Autonomy: Using Self-Determination Theory to Improve Library De-Stress Programming

Many U.S. academic libraries offer programming during final exams, in an attempt to relieve students’ stress. Despite the reported success of library de-stress programs, students often have little input in planning these activities. For the academic years 2015-16 and 2016-17, the authors allowed students to come up with their own de-stress program ideas. To solicit students’ ideas, the authors used a two-round idea generation and voting process, using whiteboards placed in public spaces in their library. After several semesters of using this user-centered programming model, the authors sought to examine whether students felt a sense of agency in suggesting and voting on programs and whether this agency affected students’ motivation to attend programs. To investigate their questions, the authors conducted two focus groups with undergraduate students. Focus group results suggest that most students are more interested in attending programs that they personally suggested or voted for, deriving intrinsic rewards from the autonomy of having their voices heard. The results suggest, however, that not all students care to be involved in the ideation or voting processes, nor do they necessarily associate library programs with the library services unit. Results also suggest numerous ways to improve upon the user-centered programming model.