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NY Times Article

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Librarians used to forbid any food or drink to avoid staining books and attracting pests. People who tried to sneak snacks in the stacks would be reprimanded. But in recent years, a growing number of libraries have had a major shift in policy: They are the ones putting food on the table.

Hundreds of libraries are now serving federally funded summer meals to children to ensure that they don't go hungry. The change is part of an effort to stay relevant to patrons, and to pair nutrition and educational activities so low-income children get summertime learning, too.

Enid Costley, the children's and youth services consultant for Library of Virginia, summed up the rationale for starting to serve free food: "For kids to be well-read, they need to be well-fed."

If they are worried about getting their next meal, she said, "It makes it harder to learn. Giving kids books and nutrition is a win-win, all the way around."

A couple times a week, Taryn Dowdell, 27, sits in a quiet corner of the Elmwood Place library and reads to her children, Tori, 5, and Tayrnce, 3, while they dig in to their free lunches. Tayrnce scooped a heap of pasta into his mouth and said softly, "It's yummy."

Ms. Dowdell said her daughter, who will be starting kindergarten this fall, is typically more picky so doesn't always want to eat at the library. But today they had little choice. "I didn't have food at home, so we had to come," she said.

"Libraries see that kids in their communities are hungry," said Natalie Cole, a library programs consultant for the California State Library. "We are not only providing meals. We are providing learning opportunities and keeping kids reading all summer long."

After one lunch, Danielle McFarland, the children's librarian at Elmwood Place, gave out tiny robots called Ozobots, which are designed for the youngsters to program. Another time, she brought in a 3-D printer so they could see how it worked.

Local sponsors like camps, operators of school feeding programs or churches procure food to be prepared, get it delivered to sites like libraries, and handle most of the administrative tasks and paperwork for reimbursement.

The meals are paid for through the United States Department of Agriculture's summer food service program. In 2016, it funded roughly 50,000 sites nationwide as a way to feed kids who rely on free or reduced meals during the school year. That year, nearly four million children got roughly 179 million meals.

Since the 1970s, the U.S.D.A. has tried to fill the gap by providing meals at sites like camps, parks and Y.M.C.A.s. But transportation can be a barrier for accessing many of these programs, as are the limited number of summer camps and activities for low-income kids, according to a new report called "Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation" by the Food Research & Action Center. In July 2016, summer meals served only one child for every seven low-income children who participate in free and reduced-cost lunch during the school year, the group said.

"Libraries are an exciting opportunity to increase access," said Crystal FitzSimons, an author of the report. "There's a lot of energy around recruiting libraries to provide meals that's happening at local, state and national levels."

In interviews, librarians and anti-hunger advocates in California, Ohio, Virginia and New York all reported sizable increases in participation after a concerted recruitment effort spread from state to state through webinars, librarian conferences and word of mouth. In 2014, the U.S.D.A. started recommending libraries as potential partners, and has an online tool to connect them to sponsors, said Jalil Isa, a spokesman.

In 2016, public libraries in California provided over 203,000 meals for children at 139 sites, up from just 17 in 2013, said Dr. Cole, who has a doctorate in librarianship.

Last year, Ohio had 133 library branches serving U.S.D.A.-funded food, up from 88 in 2014. "It's been a significant mindshift," said Janet Ingraham Dwyer, the youth services consultant at the State Library of Ohio. "A lot of our buildings not long ago had signs saying 'No food allowed.'"

After the U.S.D.A. push to involve libraries, Hunger Solutions New York, a nonprofit in Albany, reached out to librarians in the state.

New York has more than 115 participating libraries this summer, compared to 36 in 2013, said Misha Marvel, a child nutrition programs specialist at Hunger Solutions New York.

"Libraries are a good fit," she said. "They are a non-stigmatizing community-accepted resource."

Put another way, going to a library is inconspicuous in a way that showing up at a food bank isn't.

To be eligible to serve food, a site must be located in an area where at least 50 percent of students get free or reduced-price meals at school. Census data can also be used to identify areas of eligibility. But any child can be fed, once a summer meals site is up and running.

Elizabeth Elswick, 35, a receptionist at a Y.M.C.A. and a frequent patron of the Marysville Public Library in Ohio, appreciates not having to prove her girls "are worthy of having assistance" before they eat lunch.

Sitting at picnic tables next to the library, Mrs. Elswick and her three daughters were just one of dozens of families who stood in line to get strawberries, carrots, oranges and Bosco Sticks (a lunchroom staple of mozzarella-stuffed breadsticks). "There's a diversity that prevents free lunches from being stigmatized," Mrs. Elswick said. "No one asks questions and our kids are fed."

When Kate McCartney, the youth services manager in Marysville, heard there were no summer meal sites in her county, she wanted to get involved. The program has grown exponentially. In 2015, it served 4,082 meals; this season, with four weeks left, more than 4,000 lunches have been distributed.

One requirement of the summer program is that only kids 18 and under get a free meal, so adults must bring their own food. "Fortunately we haven't had too many parents seem upset or seem to expect a meal," Ms. McCartney said. "It's one of the roles of being a parent. You put your kid ahead of your own needs."

At a recent lunch, while she tallied meals in the pavilion next to the library, she wore a smile and a "Build a Better World" T-shirt. "It's making a difference," she said. "We are definitely getting the message out to more and more people every year."

In some cases, summer meals are attracting new patrons. "Our summer lunch effort has pushed more people into our libraries," said Andie Apple, the interim director of libraries for Kern County Libraries in California. "They don't just come for the meals and leave. They come for meals and stay."

At Beale Memorial Library in Bakersfield, Calif., in an addition to more than 3,000 meals served last summer, librarians also offered a Lego club, bilingual story time, make-it-yourself slime, and creative time to doodle on paper-covered tables.

Some illustrators left notes for the librarians. "You can't believe some of the messages," Ms. Apple said. "It'll break your heart. They'll write, 'Thank you for this meal.'"

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Librarians used to forbid any food or drink to avoid staining books and attracting pests. People who tried to sneak snacks in the stacks would be reprimanded. But in recent years, a growing number of libraries have had a major shift in policy: They are the ones putting food on the table.

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Chattanooga Public Library Summer Reading Celebration

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Chattanooga Public Library Summer Reading Celebration

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Wendy Burns I also have an incredible partnership with our public library. I have also partnered with the National Park in our area. They have park ranger educators that would love to work with you.

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Fran Glick We have an incredible collaboration with our public library system. We have a joint workgroup that continues to drive our growth. Here's an infographic of key projects.

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Bonnie McBride I host a family literacy night, specifically targeting our ELL students and families. Our first year I reached out to one of the local branch public libraries, and this past year it was the public library and the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Advancement, which are both awesome partnerships.

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Cristol Kapp We hosted a community partnership panel at our Summer Library Institute.

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Gina Seymour We've been encouraging compassionate citizenry among our students

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Out of tragedy came something positive in a Long Island, NY, community.

Anil John, who had immersed himself in sports and clubs throughout his four years at Islip High School, was killed in an auto accident shortly before his 18th birthday in late 2015.

That left the entire school reeling. Karen Volkmann, the Students Against Destructive Decisions club advisor and an English teacher, knew her students had to do something to start healing, not just talk. She also knew who could help her figure out what: Gina Seymour, the school's library media specialist. "I went to Gina. And she didn't miss a beat, saying, 'We're going to make buttons!'" (Never mind that Seymour didn't have a button maker. She borrowed one.) Her maker space was soon packed with students assembling buttons bearing John's photo. The buttons would be worn at a basketball game played in his honor, which his parents were attending. More than 400 buttons were made in two days.

In school maker spaces, students learn about STEM, artistic expression, and sustainability. As great as all that is, there's even more they can derive: compassion and civic engagement. That's exactly what Seymour-by forging partnerships with nearly everyone in the school-has been fostering in the past year.

The "Compassionate Maker"

While Seymour had always been an active proponent of the perks of making, the loss of John "took me to a new level," she says. "Making is fun, and it teaches a lot, but there are other people out there." So her MakerCare Program was born, dedicated to nurturing public service among her students while benefiting organizations both local and international. Students carry out hands-on service projects, creating things not just for the sake of making stuff, but to make a difference in the world.

Students who need community service hours, service-based school clubs, the sewing classes, plus, of course, teens who just want to help others are all among those who flock to the MakerCare section of Seymour's ever-expanding maker space on the second floor of the sprawling suburban school.

Who's being helped and how?

The list of beneficiaries of MakerCare is as long and varied as the partners Seymour has cultivated to make the program happen. "The beauty of it is that I collaborate with my colleagues even more now; it's truly remarkable. One of our elementary schools is even using MakerCare as part of their character education program," says Seymour.

Shelter dogs. Teens have used recycled fabric from t-shirts and jeans (sometimes their own) to make dog toys for the local animal shelter. This simple toy made from fabric rope and discarded tennis balls (courtesy of the tennis coach), can bring the pooches, kenneled all day, a little joy. MakerCare will also be running a fundraising sale of the toys to help a local Boy Scout defray the costs of his Eagle Scout project, a pet adoption drive.

Breast cancer survivors. Comfort pillows are part of the repertoire of MakerCare teens as well. The pretty cushions go to women recovering from breast cancer to make them more comfortable post-surgery.

African school girls. Heidi Stevens's sewing students will be making pillowcase dresses for African school girls with Seymour, through Little Dresses for Africa.

Forgotten kitties. Several of Stevens's sewing students are also stitching catnip toys for a Long Island stray cat rescue group. The effort began when Seymour learned that the group receives many donated handmade cat toys, but they're often over-stitched, and the cats could swallow the thread. Seymour approached Stevens about having her students, who had mastered more advanced stitching methods, step in.

Hospital patients. Even principal Michael Mosca recently recognized an opportunity that "had Gina written all over it." Soon art and English classes will work in tandem to decorate and write postcards to send to people confined to hospitals across the country. Seymour is planning to orchestrate the project through PostcardPickMeUp.org.

The Homeless. What's plarn? It's strings of plastic grocery bags, tied end to end, that is woven with a crochet hook, to make sleep mats for homeless persons-like plastic yarn. Many of the staff members at the school have taken on the collecting and tying of the bags. Makercare participants need all the help they can get: it takes 500-700 bags to make one mat.

Art teacher Lorraine Knoblauch works with Seymour, with an assist from the woodshop instructor, in directing students in how to make wood transfer plaques for Habitat for Humanity, as well as key holders. Rather than the "welcome home" sign a family typically gets when moving in, Knoblauch suggested trying wood transfers of an inspirational quote, chosen by the family themselves. The first MakerCare plaque went to a family in Wyandanch, NY.

Charity begins at home...or at school

While MakerCare is touching lives on the outside, the maker space has become a form of outreach to two populations within the school.

Rita Dockswell's special education students wanted a craft club, but with a tech twist. She knew Seymour had the tech know-how to dovetail with her own traditional crafting background, so they've been playing tag team. "It's worked out beautifully," says Dockswell. Some of their hybrid tech-traditional projects have included a fabric flower that lights up via conductive copper tape, touch screen gloves with conductive thread at the fingertip, and a felt hat in the school colors, juiced up with littleBits, with a moving letter I for Islip (which principal Mosca sported in a parade).

Dockswell and Seymour concur that special ed students really respond to maker activities. Seymour recalls one boy who, on the first day of school, told her he didn't like people and wanted to sit alone. She obliged him, setting him up with Snap Circuits. He went from mumbling and avoiding eye contact to sitting with four new friends, laughing and building alongside them, in three months.

Seymour's reputation for seizing on new collaborations, including the one with Dockswell, is known to everyone in the building. Even the security guards want in. "This big, beefy guy comes up to me and says 'I like crafts.' I was like....Okaaay....Turns out, he wanted to teach my kids for a session," she recalls. The sight of this burly security guard excitedly demonstrating decoupage, then, on a second occasion, how to make a macramé shell necklace, said it all, recalls Dockswell.

The English Language Learners (ELL) at Islip High School speak, altogether, 17 languages. Claudia Osorio, ELL coordinator, explains that these kids often have a hard time acclimating to the school community. "They may do fine in their classroom, with their group, but they struggle with integrating with the rest of the school. Recognition for a job well done, being able to complete a task successfully outside of their ELL classroom, means a lot," she says.

Seymour explains how the maker space becomes an oasis for these kids. "They can more easily achieve measurable success here, since pieces, parts, supplies....transcend language." She gives the specific example of littleBits being color-coded. "Before you know it," she continues, "they are communicating quite a bit in English." For example, while many such kits come with directions in Spanish, the Spanish-speaking students try not to rely on them. "They don't necessarily need them, and more often than not they complete a project without them. That builds confidence, which then transfers elsewhere."

As Dockswell points out, there always seem to be a flurry of charity activity in schools from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but "What about the rest of the year? Gina has found a way to splice outreach into the entire school term. And it's something other librarians can do, too."

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About Christina Vercelletto

Christina Vercelletto is School Library Journal's news editor. An award-winning writer and editor, Vercelletto has held staff positions at Babytalk, Parenting, Scholastic Parent & Child, and NYMetroParents.com.

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Struck by Tragedy, a NY High School Heals Through "Compassionate Making"

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Out of tragedy came something positive in a Long Island, NY, community. Anil John, who had immersed himself in sports and clubs throughout his four years at Islip High School, was killed in an auto accident shortly before his 18th birthday in late 2015. That left the entire school reeling.

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Charles Scardina

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Lynn Kleinmeyer In my previous position, we had Community readers come in to read to our 2nd-5th graders . . . The mayor, new reporters, even the middle school principal (great to build a relationship with our 5th graders). Just one of the many things we did, but loved that it became part of our culture.

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Karyn Sobczak Lewis I'm going to try to partner with my public library to have library card info at our open house this year. Also trying to coordinate a community read of A Dog's Purpose between my junior high and the neighboring elementaries in the spring followed by a community movie night.