Sydney libraries extend opening hours, provide snacks and stress relief for students

Free massages, pizza, puppy love and unicorn magic are being dished up to stressed-out students at libraries across Sydney, as their study rooms teem with teenagers cramming for their HSC exams. See what’s happening across the city.

Free massages, pizza, puppy love and unicorn magic are being dished up to stressed-out students at libraries across Sydney, as their study rooms teem with teenagers cramming for their HSC exams.

In the city’s south, hundreds of HSC students have turned up to Sutherland and Cronulla libraries to make use of a “daily refreshment station” loaded up with fruit, lollies and pizza, plus semiweekly visits from therapy dogs, free ten-minute massages and friendship bracelet-making classes.

Local masseuse Lulu Campbell has been giving students neck and shoulder massages for the “HSC Rescue” program since 2019, and said at the start of each session there’s always a “rush” for the nine tickets available.

“One of my friends used to work for Headspace a couple of years ago, and she got me into it,” Ms Campbell said.

“Usually it’s most popular among people who have had massages before – the students are kind of shy at the beginning, especially the ones who haven’t had a massage before.”

Cronulla-based massage therapist Lulu Campbell. Picture: Supplied

The HSC rescue program at Sutherland Shire libraries also features therapy dogs and a snack bar. Picture: Supplied

Her clients are noticeably more alert after their treatment thanks to their increased blood flow, she said, but the massages are as much about the “after-care”, including advice on keeping hydrated and improving posture.

Elsewhere, extended opening hours exclusively for HSC students have attracted the night owls and workaholics to Eastwood and West Ryde libraries, Green Square Library, and Chatswood library where “lock-ins” from 6pm to 9pm have attracted more than 470 students across the five nights.

The Green Square library is hosting late night “lock-ins” for HSC students. Picture: Flavio Brancaleone

“Our staff at our libraries are often greeted by students waiting for access, and students are very often there when the libraries close,” Willoughby Mayor Tanya Taylor said.

Across town, conservative estimates put the increase in patronage at the State Library of NSW on Macquarie Street at 20 per cent for the month of October, though State Librarian Dr Caroline Butler-Bowdon said real numbers will likely be much higher.

“The library, today, is totally booming,” she told The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

“The place is buzzing … this generation have really taken to libraries, they are coming in bigger numbers and there’s no doubt about it.”

State Library staff dressed as unicorns are bringing the magic to students’ study sessions. Picture: Richard Dobson

Opening hours have been extended from 8am til 9pm. Every day at 2pm, the library – affectionately referred to as ‘the State’ by its Gen Z fans – employs two cheeky unicorns to prance from desk to desk, urging students to un-glue themselves from their desks and take a break at the snack bar outside.

“Some of them are here very long hours, in our observations,” Dr Butler-Bowdon said.

“We’re taking that midafternoon point where students might need a boost, and lifting their spirits in the final weeks before the HSC exams.”

HSC students Chloe Marchant and Naomi Wu were among those whisked outside to grab some free snacks and drinks and get fresh air. Picture: Richard Dobson

Roseville College students Chloe Marchant and Naomi Wu have become regulars at the State Library in the lead-up to the HSC.

“I like to come as soon as the library opens, so I can get a good seat … (and) I normally stay until 5pm,” Chloe said.

“I like having lunch … get(ting) out in the sun and having that break – otherwise you can’t focus.”

“In my opinion it’s not about staying as long as you humanly can, it’s about staying as long as you productively can,” Naomi added.

“The HSC is about taking it one step at a time.”

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