VPL’s 2023 Customer Satisfaction Survey unveiled mental health concerns and stress management as key challenges for many of our customers who asked for more support from their libraries. Study & Chill is a program arising out of this community need, with a specific lens on health literacy supports and study resources for teens during their demanding exam period. Twice annually during high school exams, VPL locations offer multiple Study & Chill sessions consisting of several different elements designed to support, comfort, and inspire youth during a time of increased academic pressures. The program enables us to forge new connections with teens while strengthening existing connections and showcases the library as a top destination of choice for studiers.

A significant element of Study & Chill is the provision of Exam Care Packages. These free resource kits include nutritious snacks, sensory supports, stationery, and community resource information. Additionally, teens are offered refreshments. Local community partners are invited to set up booths to promote their health services for youth. Through a partnership with St. John Ambulance, therapy dogs join us, bringing smiles of delight and reducing tension. The library is strategically arranged with an abundance of versatile furniture and resources that signal a flexible and inviting space to collaborate and study.

Vaughan Public Libraries is the only known organization in Vaughan to offer a program like Study & Chill. Not only is the program adaptable, fun, and easy to implement, but it has far reaches beyond exam season, cultivating positive relationships with youth and an environment of warmth and delight that extends throughout the school year.

From June 2023-2024, Study & Chill was featured at many VPL locations, boasting an impressive 1,284 participants!

Teens need and deserve a safe and welcoming space to learn. At VPL, they were observed in large numbers using our spaces for group and individual study, determined to achieve their goals. By offering such programs, the library has become the optimal location for learning and engagement, providing an outlet to further the educational endeavors of youth.

We recognize that teens have specific emotional and physical needs – they don’t always think far ahead and can have trouble planning (it’s just a part of their brain chemistry during this developmental stage). Teens often come to the library without the necessary study tools and belong to a vulnerable demographic.

Study & Chill helps to mitigate these needs by alleviating stress, building a community of like-minded studiers, and empowering youth to excel academically.