ELMWOOD
PLACE, Ohio — Before opening their doors at noon, the librarians squeeze tables
and chairs between the book stacks to prepare for the onslaught of hungry
children. Usually, two or three dozen show up, but occasionally, up to 70 do.
During
the summer, they come to this tiny branch in Elmwood Place, a village in
greater Cincinnati, for “Captain Underpants,” air-conditioning and, lately, a
hot meal.
One
recent Thursday, most of the pint-size patrons signed up for free lunch even
before reserving a computer. Older kids, lanky from growth spurts, first
beelined for the internet, then wrote their names down to get the day’s meal —
macaroni with ground beef — after a gentle reminder from Kevin Collett, a
library services assistant.
A woman
from a nearby church — the program sponsor — delivered lunch. Librarians
assembled each share. Then LeeAnn McNabb, the branch manager, summoned
children, one by one, to get cantaloupe slices, an apple, a roll, milk and the
warm entree.
“We come
Monday through Friday, unless there’s an unforeseeable catastrophe,” said
Lorrie Spraggins, 58, who lives nearby with her daughter and grandchildren.
“With eight people in this family, and five under 18, it really helps.”
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.”
The
Marysville Public Library serves free summer meals to children under this
pavilion. Participating sites must be in an area where at least 50 percent of
students get free or reduced-price meals at school. But any child can be fed. Credit
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
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.
Jackson
Melish, left, and Molly Melish eating lunch at the Marysville Public Library.
Credit
Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
“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.
Some of
the free lunches served to children at the library in Elmwood Place, Ohio.
Credit
Catherine Saint Louis
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.’”
Those
looking for a summer meals site can call 1-866-3-HUNGRY or 1-877-8-HAMBRE or
text “food” or “comida” to 877-877, or go the U.S.D.A.’s
summer meals site.
Source: The New York Times
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