"Forbes" recently reported that Americans spent $11 billion in 2008 on self-help books, CDs, seminars, coaching, and stress-management programs--13.6 percent more than they did in 2005. Why the uptick? According to a recent "Publishers Weekly" cover story, conventional publishing industry wisdom holds that personal improvement titles do very well…

Discusses bibliotherapy and suggests supportive knowledge as a better term for use in school libraries. Describes experiments in two Israeli schools that developed a self-help section in the libraries and showed an increase in reading, open discussion among students and librarians, and collaboration between school administrators, teachers, and…