LIBRARIES could hold the key to boosting relationships in communities - and encouraging kindness.

It's no secret libraries are a vital part of local communities and, to test new and creative ways of bringing people together, Glasgow Women's Library has taken part in a Scotland-wide project.

Set up by The Carnegie UK Trust, the East End centre organised a special ‘kindness initiative’ designed to improve wellbeing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

GWL ran an online Story Café to engage women in stories and poems as well as providing a route into reflecting and discussing women’s own experiences of kindness and how kindness shapes communities.

The library also ran a craft workshop called ‘Women Making It’, with craft bundles sent out in advance to allow participation.

Wendy Kirk, a librarian at Glasgow Women’s Library, said: "Glasgow Women's Library is renowned for its warm welcome, and kindness has always been at the core of what we do.

"Taking part in the Carnegie UK Trust project has been a wonderful opportunity for us to support women to come together, in creative ways, to share experiences of, and to celebrate kindness.

"It was great to be able to foreground kindness in our digital programming, which beautifully complemented the work we had been doing to create welcoming digital spaces during the pandemic.

"It's been heartening to connect with other libraries across Scotland and see how they were embedding kindness in their own work."

Over the last year, the Trust worked with 10 public libraries in Scotland to provide support and funding to develop and deliver projects encouraging people to think about kindness and to build better relationships with those around them.

The project aimed to test whether small-scale ‘kindness initiatives’ delivered by local libraries could help to improve public wellbeing.

Despite Covid-19 restrictions limiting the use of library buildings, the report highlights how libraries were able to adapt and innovate, creating opportunities for people to connect in different ways. Examples from other participating libraries included postcard and letter exchanges between schoolchildren and older members of the community; interactive ‘kindness trees’ where library users could share memories and messages; and virtual cafés that created space for community conversations about kindness.

Sarah Davidson, CEO of The Carnegie UK Trust, said: “Libraries across Scotland have shown that small interventions underpinned by kindness can have a positive impact on people’s lives.

"It has been heartening to see libraries’ commitment to exploring the importance of kindness.

"This came when many communities most needed local togetherness and a sense of community spirit.

"These initiatives provide a template to inspire public libraries in Scotland to continue playing this vital role.”

The key finding from the Carnegie UK Trust initiative is that simple, low-cost interventions can have a real impact on wellbeing for library users, workers and the wider community.

The authors recommend that library services across Scotland should support their staff to think creatively about the role they can play in improving relationships in their local communities.