A toolkit for academic libraries

Host your own Lo-Fi Day

Everything you need to bring a low-sensory, lo-fi study-week event to your library: how to plan it, what to offer, how to promote it, and what we learned from running it four times. Adapt any piece to fit your campus.

Introduction

The evidence below makes the case for the program, and you can borrow any of it for a proposal or for marketing.

More than three-quarters of college students report moderate or high stress (ACHA, 2024), and finals week concentrates it into a few high-stakes days. Elevated stress, anxiety, and depression are linked to weaker cognitive control and lower task accuracy (Walia et al., 2026), the very capacities finals demand.

Many students already study with music in the background. Lo-fi has become a default study soundtrack (Zeng & Sobande, 2026), and a pilot study found it significantly reduced state anxiety in young adults (Dsouza et al., 2024). A randomized study found focus music improved sustained attention and lowered physiological arousal versus silence (Kirk et al., 2022).

The design matters as much as the event. Finals-week wellness programming can backfire when it's loud and performative (Wilson, 2026). A low-sensory model fits the way students already study.

Our Lo-Fi Day

We started Low-Sensory Lo-Fi Day at Daniel A. Reed Library in Fall 2024, and have run it every study week since. It turns the library into a calm retreat in the lead-up to finals, set to the mellow, looping beats of the Lofi Girl stream, with free coffee, therapy dogs and low-key activities. Students pick their comfort level: a calm but communal space or a fully quiet room with no sound at all. Here is what four runs looked like, in photos and in the numbers.

The data

Four runs of Lo-Fi Day at SUNY Fredonia's Reed Library, drawn from the library's half-hourly patron count.

How the day filled upHow many people were in the library through the day. The selected run is bold, with the other runs in gray behind it; the shaded band is the event window and the peak is marked. A dashed segment is a gap where no reading was taken.
Busiest day of study weekLo-Fi Day was the busiest day of study week, every run. Patron count is the sum of half-hourly readings, 11am–7pm, not a count of unique people.
Lo-Fi Day v a typical dayLo-Fi Day against a typical day in the same term. The Lo-Fi bar is labeled with its lift over a typical Wednesday; the typical days exclude the lo-fi week.

Where this was presented

  • SUNYLA 2026 (SUNY Brockport). “Low-Sensory Lo-Fi Day: Creating Calm in the Library for Student Success.” Christina Rose Hilburger & Owen Wagner. View the digital poster →
  • ALA Annual 2026 (Chicago). “Creating Calm: A Low-Sensory Lo-Fi Model for Academic Libraries.” Poster session, Diversity Fair. Christina Rose Hilburger. View the digital poster →

Plan your own

Everything to pitch it, plan it, run it, and measure it. Jump to what you need.

Pitch it to your supervisor

Fill in your details and download a ready-to-send proposal, in Word or PDF. Edit it however you like before sending.

It all runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved, and no AI is involved. It just fills in the template for you.

Live preview

How to host one

These six steps take you from idea to event, and the model is meant to stay low-cost and low-tech.

1

Pick your space & date

Choose a central, comfortable area students already use, and schedule during the highest-stress window, typically the start of finals or study week. Co-scheduling with an existing wellness week boosts turnout.

2

Set up the sound

Run a continuous lo-fi stream (we use the Lofi Girl livestream) on the library's screens with audio over the speakers. Because it's a single continuous live broadcast, YouTube doesn't interrupt it with ads, and every screen showing it stays on the same song. No subscription needed, so the sound costs nothing.

3

Create two zones

A communal zone with music, snacks, and activities (ours is the library's OSCAR Hub, our space for student creativity and research), plus a separate quiet, low-stimulus retreat for students who need calm without sound. See the activity menu below.

4

Line up partners

Reach out to counseling/wellness services, student government, and clubs for therapy dogs, funding, snacks, and co-promotion. See the collaborators section for who to ask.

5

Promote it everywhere

Use printed flyers, digital screens, social media, and word of mouth. Grab the ready-to-edit templates below.

6

Count & capture

Track headcounts at intervals and snap photos (with consent). The numbers and quotes make next year's pitch easy.

Set the mood

Here's a sample of the sound. On the day, we run the Lofi Girl live stream on every screen and over the speakers.

Our favorite study mix

A go-to archived Lofi Girl session, calm, looping, and instrumental. Ambient sound for a low-sensory study space.

More on the Lofi Girl channel →

Activity menu

Mix and match to fit your space and budget. Two zones let students choose their comfort level. Hover or tap any tag for a tip on what to look for.

Lo-Fi, Library Proper

Ambient lo-fi music Coffee, tea & snacks Therapy dogs Coloring & puzzles Playdough, craft kits & kinetic sand Fidget tools Prompt / reflection wall

Quiet Retreat

Low lighting No music Fidget tools Comfortable seating Minimal foot traffic

Supplies & rough budget

This is a starting checklist with example costs, so swap in your own numbers and quantities.

ItemNotesEst. cost
StreamingThe ad-free Lofi Girl stream from step 2free
Coffee, tea & cookiesFSA-catered: 15 dozen cookies, coffee, tea, and delivery; consider campus or grant funding if available≈ $195
Fidget tools (giveaway)Mostly from the Counseling Center; we bought one bulk pack students can keepmostly donated
Coloring sheets & suppliesPrinted sheets, pencils, markers we already had on handon hand
Puzzles / gamesReused what we already had; reusable year to yearon hand
Sensory & craft kitsPlaydough, kinetic sand & craft kits (from the Counseling Center)mostly donated
Signage & printingFlyers, zone signs, and the prompt wall, printed in-house on our own print quotain-house
Reed's example: catering≈ $195

What Reed spent: The Faculty Student Association catered refreshments for about $195: 15 dozen Bake Shop cookies ($11/dozen), coffee and tea ($21.25/gallon), and $30 delivery, after our 10% campus discount. It was enough to get us through, with a couple of extra coffees added as the day went. Most fidget tools came from the Counseling Center, which also brought playdough, craft kits, and kinetic sand. Coloring sheets and puzzles were already on hand; snacks and giveaways were donated by the Psychology Club and Spectrum Entertainment Board; and signage was printed in-house, so it cost nothing beyond our print quota. We originally added a month of YouTube Premium ($15.99) on top, but we've since learned the Lofi Girl live stream runs ad-free on its own, so you can skip it. The real cost was the refreshments.

Planning tools

Quick tools to size up your own event. The calculators are editable and pre-filled with Reed's numbers as a starting point.

Budget estimator

Edit the quantities and prices for your campus. The total updates as you type.

ItemQtyUnit $Line total
Cookies (dozen)$0
Coffee & tea (gallon)$0
Delivery$0
Fidgets / supplies$0
Estimated total$0

Catering, roughly

Reed served about 15 dozen cookies and a few gallons each of coffee and tea for a day that peaked at 118 people in the building, and it was enough. Scale to your crowd, and adjust to what they actually drink.

Countdown planner

Pick your event date for a working-backwards timeline you can drop into your planning doc.

  1. Pick a date above to see your timeline.

Measure your impact

Estimate your own impact

Running your own Lo-Fi Day? Enter your peak headcounts (the most people in at one moment) to compare your busiest day to a typical one. It updates live, so you can screenshot it for a report.

Typical day
– at peak
Lo-Fi Day
– at peak
Enter your typical-day peak to see the difference.
Tip: our busiest Reed run hit 118 in the library at peak. Enter your own numbers above.
Pulling your numbers
  • If you run gate counts, grab your event day and a few comparable days over the same hours.
  • If you log counts in Springshare (LibInsight / LibAnalytics), export those same days from there.
  • Or take half-hourly headcounts by zone, which is what we do, and they double as your crowd curve.

Crunch your data, no AI needed

Paste your event-day headcounts, one reading per line, and one typical-day number. It works out the totals in your browser, with the same honesty rules we use. A single reading is the people present at that moment, a window total is a sum of readings and not a count of unique people, and the typical day is your baseline. Nothing you type leaves this page.

Readings can be whole numbers in any order down the column. A blank line, a dash, or “x” counts as a skipped reading (a gap), not a zero. Readings are assumed half an hour apart.

Messy data, or a custom question? Use an AI prompt

Paste your patron counts into the AI tool of your choice. Both prompts carry the same honesty guardrails we used: a single reading is people present, a window total is a sum (not unique people), and baselines drop the event week.

Analyze the impact
I run a low-sensory lo-fi study event at my academic library and want to measure its impact honestly. I have half-hourly patron headcounts for the event day and for the rest of the term. Please: 1. Keep two kinds of number separate: a single reading (people in the library at that moment) and a window total (the sum of half-hourly readings across set hours). Never call a window total "students" or "unique visitors." 2. Chart how the crowd built and faded on the event day (people in the library by time of day), and mark the peak. 3. Compare the event day to a typical day in the same term. Average all the other days, and separately all other Wednesdays, with the event week removed, over the same hours (for example 11am to 7pm). Report the percent lift over each. 4. Show where the event ranked among the days of that week. 5. Treat any missing or skipped readings as gaps, not zeros, and tell me if my counting method seems to change mid-term. Be conservative and flag anything the data cannot support. Then give me three plain-language sentences I could put on a website or in a report. My data (whatever counts you have: gate counts, hourly or half-hourly headcounts, or daily totals, with their dates and times): [paste here]
Build interactive charts
I have patron-count data from my library's lo-fi study event and want clean, honest, interactive charts like the ones at bloom.windandpages.com/lofi. Please build a single self-contained HTML file (no external libraries) with three charts: 1. A line chart of people in the library by half-hour on the event day, with the peak marked and the event window shaded. 2. A bar chart of the days of the event week, with the event day highlighted as #1. 3. A bar chart comparing the event day to a typical day and a typical Wednesday, with baselines that exclude the event week, each labeled with the percent lift. Rules: label window totals "patron count", never "students"; show any missing reading as a gap, not a zero; do not imply a trend the data does not support; keep it keyboard accessible with a data-table toggle under each chart. My data (whatever counts you have: gate counts, hourly or half-hourly headcounts, or daily totals, with their dates and times): [paste here]

Marketing templates

Starter copy you can lift and adapt for your campus, plus a matching social and print kit on the way.

Social & print kit Coming soon

A matching Instagram post, story, 8.5×11 flyer, and brand-kit reference are in the works: fill-in-the-blank, each with an “add your own photo” slot. Check back soon.

Social post
Finals stressing you out? 🎧 Stop by [LIBRARY] for Low-Sensory Lo-Fi Day: chill lo-fi beats, free coffee & snacks, therapy dogs, coloring, and a quiet sensory-friendly room. Come recharge. [DATE] · [TIME] · [LOCATION]
Digital screen / flyer
LOW-SENSORY LO-FI DAY Creating calm during finals. 🎵 Lo-fi study soundtrack · ☕ Free refreshments · 🐶 Therapy dogs · 🧩 Coloring & puzzles · 🤫 Quiet retreat room [DATE] · [TIME] · [LIBRARY + ROOM]
E-mail / newsletter blurb
Need a break from studying? [LIBRARY] is hosting Low-Sensory Lo-Fi Day on [DATE]. We're turning the library into a calm, low-stimulus retreat with a lo-fi soundtrack, free coffee and snacks, therapy dogs, coloring stations, fidget tools, and a quiet sensory-friendly room. Drop in any time between [TIME]. No sign-up needed, just come relax and recharge before finals.

Collaborators

Lo-Fi Day works best as a cross-campus collaboration. These are the partners worth reaching out to.

Co-schedule with an existing de-stress week and tap them for therapy-dog visits, fidget tools, and co-promotion. At Fredonia this is Prevention, Advocacy & Wellness Services (PAWS) and their Paws to Relax program.
Small grants can cover catering: coffee, tea, cookies. At Fredonia, the Faculty Student Association funds refreshments.
Clubs can co-host, table, and bring supplies. Fredonia's Psychology Club and the Spectrum Entertainment Board stocked the event with snacks and giveaways (ramen, sports drinks, granola bars, pens, and more).
Residence Life reaches students where they live. At Fredonia, the Office of Residence Life shared Lo-Fi Day with entire residence halls, putting it in front of students who might not catch library promotion otherwise.
Circulation, student workers, and reference staff make the day run, and their buy-in matters. As one put it: "There is such a buzz on Lo-Fi Day."

Planning checklist

Tap items to check them off (saved in your browser). Use “Copy” to paste into your own planning doc.

Before the event

  • ✓Pick your date (align with finals or a wellness week)
  • ✓Reserve the space, plus a separate quiet room
  • ✓Line up partners: wellness/counseling, funding, student clubs
  • ✓Align a therapy-dog visit with your event date (or set one up with wellness)
  • ✓Secure snack and beverage funding from partners
  • ✓Bookmark the Lofi Girl live stream (free, no subscription)
  • ✓Order fidget tools, coloring supplies, and puzzles
  • ✓Make signage and a prompt / reflection wall
  • ✓Schedule promo: flyers, screens, social, e-mail
  • ✓Plan headcount tracking and photo consent

During the event

  • ✓Set up the lo-fi stream on screens and speakers
  • ✓Test the audio, set up the two zones, and brief staff
  • ✓Keep refreshments and supplies stocked
  • ✓Take headcounts at regular intervals
  • ✓Snap photos (with consent) and note standout moments

After the event

  • ✓Tally your numbers and pull the comparisons
  • ✓Collect quotes and feedback from students and staff
  • ✓Debrief with your team and partners
  • ✓Save the data and photos for next year’s pitch

Additional resources

More to explore, with room to grow.

Full Zotero library → A shared collection of the citations on this page plus further reading on lo-fi, sensory-friendly spaces, and library wellness programming.

References & credits

References

  • American College Health Association. (2024). American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment III: Undergraduate Student Reference Group Data Report Spring 2024. bit.ly/44gNmDb
  • Dsouza, M. P., Shetty, A., Shwetha, T. S., Damodar, P., Pai, A. A., Mathias, R. J., D'Souza, S., & Lewis, N. T. (2024). 'I would want to listen to it as a medicine': Lo-fi music and state anxiety, a mixed-methods pilot study on young adults. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 29(1), Article 2388787. doi.org/10.1080/02673843.2024.2388787
  • Kirk, U., Ngnoumen, C., Clausel, A., & Purvis, C. K. (2022). Effects of three genres of focus music on heart rate variability and sustained attention. Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 6(2), 143–158. doi.org/10.1007/s41465-021-00226-3
  • Walia, Y., Gupta, R. K., & Tripathi, S. (2026). The impact of depression, anxiety, and stress on cognitive conflict in university students. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 43(3), 411–417. doi.org/10.1002/crq.70009
  • Wilson, G. (2026). "If I'm not stressed, why am I even here?": Exploring narratives of student mental health and belonging on campus. Journal of American College Health, 74(4), 1058–1067. doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2025.2486415
  • Zeng, N., & Sobande, F. (2026). Lofi Girl, cultural politics, and dichotomies of digital slowness and productivity. Journal of Gender Studies. Advance online publication. doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2026.2642073

Credits & thanks

  • Lofi Girl, whose study streams got me through the pandemic and inspired this event.
  • Kerrie Fergen Wilkes, my boss and mentor, who shared an article that sparked this idea, and who supports this program and all the other shenanigans I try out at Fredonia.
  • Owen Wagner, who was my intern when I planned the first Lo-Fi Day and has been part of every one since, talking it through with me, bringing a student's perspective, and supporting the logistics. They're now in the University at Buffalo's library science program. Hire them. They're going to do awesome things.
  • Icons by Icons8.
  • Photos are from Low-Sensory Lo-Fi Day at Daniel A. Reed Library, SUNY Fredonia.
  • Page template created with Claude Design and built with Claude Code.