Introduction

Bibliotherapy schemes have been offered in UK public libraries and healthcare and community settings since the early 2000s, providing access to selected written materials which it is hoped will have a positive effect on mental health. These materials have predominantly been self-help resources focused on diagnosed mental health conditions, but some schemes facilitate access to fiction and poetry with a similar aim of improving mental health and wellbeing. These recent incarnations of bibliotherapy draw on a long, varied and international history. Definitions of bibliotherapy have developed in line with changing attitudes and approaches to mental health treatment, and with the evolving role of hospital and public libraries.

Bibliotherapy has developed over the past 100 years, but the premise remains the same: that information, guidance, and solace can be found in books. Some would take this historical account further, referring to the long association between books and their medicinal qualities, with a phrase carved over the door of several ancient libraries, including those at Alexandria and Thebes, usually translated as ‘medicine for the soul’ (McDaniel, 1956).

This chapter aims to highlight some of the major developments since the term ‘bibliotherapy’ was coined in 1916. It traces the development of bibliotherapy, examining how it follows the changing roles of hospital, school and public libraries, and explores how attitudes towards physical and mental health have altered. Outlining a critical history of bibliotherapy shows how it has changed over time in response to wider socio-cultural progress. The chapter sketches the characteristics of five eras of bibliotherapy: the coinage and early use of the term; its emergence in the hospital setting; the solidification of the theory and practice and shift of bibliotherapy outside the hospital; building an evidence base around bibliotherapy; and finally more recent work in public libraries and other community settings. Examining key figures in the history of bibliotherapy also demonstrates how the practice has moved from the hospital and the psychiatric unit to the public library and the community setting. Looking back over 100 years of bibliotherapy places it in context and demonstrates why it has continued to be a popular and relevant method of meeting mental health and wellbeing needs.