The Healing Library at MCPL
Public libraries offer communities a variety of benefits. They are free to use. They are responsive to public needs. They are trusted and confidential. They work well with community partners. For example, the Montgomery City Public Library collaborates with the MU Extension, Montgomery County R-2 Schools, the Montgomery County Literacy Council, the Grace Homeschool Co-Op, Youth in Need, among others.
At times, patrons share what’s going on in their lives, or the librarians notice a need. There was a library family who requested books about grief and loss to help their young child process the death of a family member. A teen shared with me her experience of going through an eating disorder, similar to a character in a book she read. We also have a few patrons dealing with mental health issues, and everyone has been afflicted with stress, anxiety, or depression sometime in their lives. These instances made me realize that MCPL needs more resources to support those experiencing trauma and mental health challenges.
While visiting the Little Dixie Regional Library in Moberly for a meeting, I noticed they offered a “Healing Library” with individual kits for families facing serious issues. I spoke with Little Dixie’s director, Rachael Grime, who explained how they created the kits. Using her insights, The Healing Library (online), and other research, I knew these types of kits would be beneficial to MCPL’s patrons and the community.
Last year, MCPL worked with Jenny Bossaller, an associate professor at the University of Missouri School of Information Science and Learning Technologies, on another grant project. Because it was a flexible grant, MU allowed us to repurpose the leftover funding. Jenny and I collaborated with Maria Culvert, a Field Specialist in Human Development and Family Science from the University of Missouri Extension Office, to create thirteen “Healing Library” kits using The Healing Library online resource (https://www.thehealinglibraryus.com/) as a template. There are kits for children, teens, and adults that include a brief description of the contents and how to use the kit, several books, a workbook, and local and online resources. The new “Healing Library” kits will be available for checkout in September.
The four children’s kits include: The Loss of a Loved One; Divorce and Separation; Sexual Assault and Abuse; and Making and Keeping Friends.
The four teen kits include: Stress, Anxiety, and Depression; Eating and Body Wellness; Healthy Relationships, and Divorce.
The five adult kits include: Relationships; Anxiety, Stress, and Depression; Grief and Loss; Addiction; and Healthy Aging.
Book club sets were also purchased with the grant money. The book topics (e.g., depression, OCD, bipolar disorder, and anxiety) were selected with active participation from the local book clubs. These fiction titles aim to destigmatize and promote conversations about and the understanding of mental health. Titles include More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova; Small Joys by Elvin Mensah; How to Hide in Plain Sight by Emma Noyes; Bear with Me Now by Katie Shepard; and Really Good Actually by Monica Heisey. We included brief, anonymous surveys with the kits and book group books to monitor future needs and expand the initiative as necessary. These book club sets include 12 copies of the book and a list of discussion questions to facilitate group discussions. The book club sets are available for checkout at MCPL.
These will be valuable additions to the Montgomery City Public Library and the citizens of Montgomery City and County, especially since this is a smaller rural area that struggles with a lack of available therapists. While we do not intend for the kits or book club sets to replace professional help, they can serve as a helpful first step to guide people in the right direction.
Perhaps most importantly, we hope to open new avenues for conversations about mental health. Everyone will experience some form of mental health challenge during their life, whether it involves themselves or someone they love. It can be hard to understand what others are going through. Reading books, both fiction and nonfiction, can help people realize that feelings—both good and bad—are universal, enabling them to discuss these feelings with others. This approach works across all ages, which is why we created Healing Library kits for children, teens, and adults, along with book club discussion kits to facilitate conversations about mental health. We hope these kits will help foster healthier families and communities where people can talk openly and understand each other better. Please spread the word that these resources are available, and let us know if there are topics we should address!