Ideas for academic libraries supporting food insecure students?

November 15, 2022 3:26 PM

Do you work in an academic library? What creative ideas have you implemented to help hungry students? Our library has a satellite of our campus food pantry, in a repurposed newspaper box, but we'd like to do more.

I'm curious about what other academic libraries are doing. What creative ideas have you implemented? Do you have "food kits" available for students to pick up at the circ desk (maybe a paper bag with granola bars, a small can of pears, individual containers of peanut butter)? Do you have a free food vending machine? Does your campus dining services team bring samples to the library? What are y'all doing that we can learn from? Thanks in advance!

posted by crepeMyrtle to Education (10 answers total)

Do you have any lawn? Could you start a community orchard?
posted by aniola at 3:29 PM on November 15, 2022

If a reasonable percentage of them are likely to qualify for SNAP, post information about it and offer signup assistance.
posted by metasarah at 3:45 PM on November 15, 2022 [18 favorites]

This isn't quite what you're thinking of, maybe, but we do a "food for fines" thing. It started out as a pilot/temporary thing and has become ongoing due to the response (bring in X item/s, get $5 of fine relief). The food that comes in is funneled to the on-campus food pantry. That's operated by our student affairs division, which has the infrastructure to publicize the service, staff the pantry, etc.
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:21 PM on November 15, 2022 [6 favorites]

I have also been incorporating routine "welfare checks" into most extended interactions with students since basically the start of the pandemic (and occasionally before). Even if everything's fine with the student, 9/10 seem to appreciate hearing about various support services, and once in a while it has made a difference.
posted by cupcakeninja at 4:35 PM on November 15, 2022 [7 favorites]

We have a general list of non-perishable items - our parking services has a November one-citation forgiveness program with 5 items from a longish list of Asian-ish non perishables that helps our more international community: rice, dal, peanut butter, etc. we also have 3 Asian markets nearby. We have a student group that manages organizing and distribution, and they get service credit. They have used shelves and reusable bags for distribution. Our program also has more than one collection and distribution location.
posted by childofTethys at 8:02 PM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Our alumni association asks volunteers to walk around the library handing out snacks during the exam period. Doesn’t address overall food insecurity I realize, but it provides a boost and brings food to students so they don’t have to venture out. Alumni assoc brings a balance of bananas and clementines/cuties, as well as some protein bars and fun foods. Feel free to MeMail if I can offer further assistance.
posted by Juniper Toast at 8:57 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

I love metasarah's point about SNAP - what other ways can you use librarian information literacy to help students living in poverty from a systematic/policy standpoint?
- information and sign up sessions for scholarships, aid, local or state support (with financial aid or local gov folks)
- publicize free ways to access teaching materials - reserves, etc
- work with professors to create syllabus reference to previous editions
- support the adoption of free open textbooks (Open Educational Resources)

WRT food - I think stuff that's available to everyone would be great. Our dining services do a coffee & pancakes dinner near the library during exams.
posted by mercredi at 6:52 AM on November 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

If you have the storage space, maybe you could start lending pots and pans and cookbooks to help students cook affordable meals at home. Whether that’s useful will depend on what kind of kitchen access they have, of course.
posted by Comet Bug at 10:56 AM on November 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks to everyone for sharing! We do offer a Food-For-Fines option in our library, a campus food pantry, and a small pantry in our library building already. There are several great ideas that we could implement almost immediately, such as providing information about SNAP and other resources, and doing gentle welfare check-ins during consultations. I'd love to loan out kitchen utensils and cookbooks -- I'll definitely bring that to our next meeting.
posted by crepeMyrtle at 1:54 PM on November 16, 2022

Student eligibility for SNAP is pretty complicated, so people definitely need help figuring out if they can apply and what documentation they need. In fact a lot of eligibility workers themselves don't understand the rules, so students also need help appealing denials. If your campus food pantry doesn't already have assisters with expertise in this, I'd suggest reaching out to another university program to make sure you're providing the right guidance. I know UC Berkeley's food pantry does this.
posted by umwelt at 3:18 PM on November 16, 2022 [1 favorite]