CLARKS SUMMIT, Pa. — Racism and mental health are serious subjects many are grappling with, especially recently.
A library in Lackawanna County has come up with a unique way to help people learn more by loaning out kits specially designed for adults, teens, and kids.
The kits from Abington Community Library are packed with books and other resources to help people tackle those topics.
“We’re incredibly grateful to be able to offer this to our community and to be able to be so timely in our response to these conversations," said library special projects manager Renee Roberts.
Library staffers have been hosting talks on those topics for months now and then came up with the idea for these unique learning tools: putting together the packs and allowing folks to check them out just like they would books, movies, and more.
A grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council helped fund the effort.
“It’s such a huge service that this library can bring, and the coolest thing about their project is that the patrons themselves were helping to create these kits, which such a cool project," said Jen Danifo from Pennsylvania Humanities Council.
There are seven anti-racism packs right now, and six mental health ones, and they have proven to be popular.
“I actually had to grab one of our last kits before this interview because they have all been checked out, so our adult kits on mental health and racism have all been checked out," said Roberts.