A Qualitative Study on University Students’ Restorative Experience of the Library Space Environment

Currently, university students are facing high levels of stress and negativity. Creating a campus learning environment that promotes students’ physical and mental health and well-being has become a key focus of current research. There is now a wealth of research proving that the natural attributes of learning spaces are highly restorative for university students, both physically and mentally. In order to comprehensively clarify the characteristics of the library spatial environment that has a restorative effect on university students, this paper conducted semi-structured interviews with 50 university students and thematically analyzed the data obtained from these interviews. Ultimately, we identified five key themes: (1) Being away: students believe that studying alone is a way to escape social pressures, immersing themselves in their studies helps them forget everything around them, and the view from the window creates a sense of detachment; (2) Extent: students perceive the design of the library space as rich and orderly; (3) Fascination: many elements of the library spatial environment appeal to them and make them feel energized. The overall atmosphere motivates them to engage more actively in their learning; (4) Compatibility: the library spatial environment provides a variety of facilities that meet their learning needs, along with various types of spaces catering for different behaviors; and (5) Biophilia: Many interviewees mentioned the benefits of natural environments and timber, as well as their preference for spaces with a sufficient sense of enclosure and the ability to observe others. The first four themes were found to be closely related to the Attention Restorative Theory during the course of the study, while the last theme was mentioned by most of the students. The results of this study prove that library spaces can be described as restorative environments in the same way as natural environments, with both physical and mental restorative effects. Furthermore, the results of this study can also provide certain ideas for the design and renovation of the internal spatial environment of university libraries.