Reimagining Academic Libraries as Wellness Spaces: Implications for Ghanaian Universities

A growing number of academic libraries internationally have begun incorporating wellness spaces—games corners, relaxation zones and quiet reflection areas—reflecting a wider conviction that student wellbeing and academic performance are inseparable. This conceptual paper defines the wellness space as a deliberately designed library area intended to support student psychological and physical wellbeing rather than academic task performance alone, and synthesizes the international evidence for such spaces. It develops an integrated theoretical framework combining salutogenic design, biophilic design, and Oldenburg’s third place theory to explain why these interventions affect student wellbeing and engagement, and applies this framework to build a case for why Ghanaian university libraries—a context the published literature has not yet examined—should engage with this agenda. The paper concludes with resource-realistic recommendations, framed as directions for practice and further research, addressed to library management and institutional leadership.