{"id":573209,"date":"2021-07-06T09:01:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/?post_type=article&p=573209"},"modified":"2021-07-05T22:06:20","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T02:06:20","slug":"why-more-public-libraries-are-doubling-as-food-distribution-hubs","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/why-more-public-libraries-are-doubling-as-food-distribution-hubs\/","title":{"rendered":"Why More Public Libraries Are Doubling as Food Distribution Hubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I<\/span>n the summer of 2021, public libraries everywhere, from Idaho<\/a> and Oklahoma<\/a> to Tennessee<\/a> and Arizona<\/a>, will offer free meals<\/a> to families with children in their local communities.<\/p>\n

What might look like a new role for libraries builds on their long tradition<\/a> of serving as innovation spaces<\/a>, community centers<\/a> and sanctuaries for people who are homeless or mentally ill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been researching how public libraries<\/a> address food insecurity<\/a> \u2013 what happens when households can\u2019t acquire adequate food because they can\u2019t afford it or can\u2019t access it for other reasons. Across the board, these efforts emerge from community partnerships with organizations that include school districts and food banks.<\/p>\n

As Kristin Warzocha<\/a>, president of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, explained in 2016, \u201cWe have the food, and they have the patrons who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lunch at the Library<\/h3>\n

The earliest example of this kind I\u2019ve found dates back 35 years. In 1986, the Nelsonville branch of the Athens County Public Library in southeastern Ohio began serving federally funded lunches in the summertime<\/a> to children to ensure that they don\u2019t go hungry.<\/p>\n

That county has one of Ohio\u2019s highest food-insecurity rates<\/a>, which helps explain why librarians there sought to provide food access in tandem with summer learning activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By 2019, over 2,000 U.S. public libraries<\/a> \u2013 about 1 in 10<\/a> \u2013 served summer meals.<\/p>\n

This practice has largely remained below the radar. The official magazine of the American Library Association<\/a> didn\u2019t mention this trend until 2008. Since then, though, growing state<\/a> and national <\/a>recognition and support<\/a> has begun to emerge.<\/p>\n

The COVID-19 Pandemic<\/h3>\n

When the coronavirus pandemic got underway, public libraries and their staff continued to fight food insecurity<\/a>, even when their doors were closed.<\/p>\n

Some library workers were reassigned to food banks<\/a> to help process and distribute donations. Others worked with food banks to hand out grab-and-go meals<\/a> in library parking lots.<\/p>\n

Still others established emergency food pantries<\/a> at libraries.<\/p>\n

In St. Louis, the county public library system took part in the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s Farmers to Families program<\/a>. Libraries everywhere, from Kentucky<\/a> and Vermont<\/a> to California<\/a> and Georgia<\/a>, participated in the emergency national food distribution program too.<\/p>\n

Many libraries have started to host small food pantries located outdoors, in little boxes with doors<\/a>. These sharing boxes are modeled on the \u201clittle free library<\/a>\u201d movement. These micro-libraries<\/a> are usually simple cabinets fastened to posts and stocked with books anyone passing by can take for free. The little free pantry<\/a> movement, which began in 2016 and seems to have expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>, instead seeks to dispatch food to those in need.<\/p>\n

In 2021, by the middle of May, at least 491 libraries in 28 states had made plans to serve meals<\/a> to schoolchildren during their summer vacations. This number is only preliminary and will rise once more states report their data to the USDA.<\/p>\n

This essay originally appeared at <\/em>The Conversation<\/em><\/a> and is published in partnership with <\/em>the Solutions Journalism Exchange<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n