The Role of Public Libraries in Addressing Food Insecurity: A Model for Community Feeding PDF Download

Author: Monica De La Cruz
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Food insecurity is a serious problem in the United States. Not having enough food to eat can negatively impact children more severely than adults. Children who are food insecure are more likely to suffer from a range of physical, mental, and developmental delays in growth. There is prior evidence that the effects of food insecurity in children can be ameliorated through national feeding programs, like the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which provides daily lunch at school for eligible low-income children. Though these types of programs are considered successful in addressing food insecurity within the community, the lack of these services when school is out, like during the summer, is problematic and creates seasonal food insecurity. Local community leaders around California have recognized this problem and have developed a feeding program out of the public libraries to address this community need. The current study focuses on evaluating this program in San Mateo County and San Jose. Study results found that participants overwhelmingly enjoyed the lunch program and did not experience any barriers to attending. Personal food insecurity and perception of food insecurity in the community varied greatly among the population sampled. These findings emphasize the continued need for sustainable summer feeding programs through the public libraries.

Author: Sophie Leontopoulou
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031222881
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
This volume addresses important questions related to the well-being and quality of life of emerging adults during crisis periods. It discusses the particular challenges that emerging adults face during a global or local crisis, the psychosocial resources they mobilize to overcome them and to flourish, the well-being indicators pertinent to youth development across various life domains, and the strategies to promote positive youth development and well-being under conditions of crisis. The volume examines these questions from an international and interdisciplinary point of view, collecting contributions mainly from psychology, but also education, economics, and sociology. It includes novel quantitative and qualitative research, intervention studies, critical reviews, and conceptual chapters. This makes it an essential read for scholars of positive development in emerging adulthood under crisis, as well as a relevant and accessible source of information for discerning lay readers. The specific focus of the majority of contributions on the Covid-19 pandemic makes this volume highly topical. Its focus on both well-being dimensions and problems related to crises offers a deeper understanding of the cultural similarities and differences in individual and collective challenges and resources across world regions. The volume investigates various facets of well-being, including daily experiences, relationships, purpose and growth, learning activities, and achievements. Evidence derived from the contributions to this volume can prove valuable for handling future crises through targeted interventions and programmes in different contexts and life domains.

Author: Beth St. Jean
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1839093404
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
This volume brings together librarians, LIS students, educators, and researchers, to discuss the many ways that information professionals and libraries serve as agents of securing health information justice.

Author: Katherine Lundberg
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Food insecurity is a significant public health issue in the United States, and families living in affluent communities are at an increased risk due to the high cost of living. The impact of charitable community-based programs on childhood food insecurity remains under-evaluated. Researchers at Stanford University conducted an evaluation of a unique summer lunch program in Mountain View, California to evaluate how the model is addressing childhood food insecurity in the community and to gain a deeper understanding of the needs of families with children. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to examine the program across three sites, each chosen due to the high volume of children in attendance during the summer months and ability to be classified as "open" sites. Over a five-week data collection period, adult participants were recruited to complete an anonymous survey to determine demographic data, screen for risk of household food insecurity, and assess program utilization. Additionally, anonymous semi-structured interviews were performed to elicit an in-depth examination of the survey domains and of perceptions of the program and of food insecurity in the community. Of the survey participants (n=280), only 25% were screened as at-risk for food insecurity. The majority of food insecure participants were Latino/Hispanic (41%) and only attended the program 1-2 days each week (77%). Despite low participation by the target population the interview participants noted common themes of high rates of food insecurity in the community attributed to the high cost of living. These findings are consistent with previous research noting difficulties reaching food insecure children over the summer months due to a variety of barriers. Based on the qualitative and quantitative feedback, program stakeholders have noted they will continue expanding and evolving the program model over subsequent summers.

Author: Anthony Mckeown
Publisher: Chandos Publishing
ISBN: 0081012314
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Overcoming Information Poverty: Investigating the Role of Public Libraries in The Twenty-First Century considers the role of public libraries in alleviating information poverty and targeting social exclusion, using a three-level information poverty framework. The book proposes a model for understanding the concept of information poverty, develops indicators for its measurement, and provides recommendations for service improvement based on analysis of public library services at macro (strategic), meso (community) and micro (individual) levels. The topic is of theoretical and practical importance when considering the changing role of public libraries today. The book is the first time a macro, meso, and micro model of information poverty indicators has been developed and applied to illustrate the impact of public libraries at strategic, community, and personal levels. - Stimulates thinking and debate on information poverty and how it may be addressed by public libraries, education departments, and governments - Uses case studies to investigate how information poverty can be tackled at the macro, meso, and micro level - Focuses on how strategic policies to reduce information poverty filter through to community-based interventions within branch libraries - Discusses mixed methods, using quantitative and qualitative data, surveys, interviews, and focus groups with library users and non-users, to conduct a three-level investigation of information poverty

Author: Rebecca T. De Souza
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262352796
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
How food pantries stigmatize their clients through a discourse that emphasizes hard work, self help, and economic productivity rather than food justice and equity. The United States has one of the highest rates of hunger and food insecurity in the industrialized world, with poor households, single parents, and communities of color disproportionately affected. Food pantries—run by charitable and faith-based organizations—rather than legal entitlements have become a cornerstone of the government's efforts to end hunger. In Feeding the Other, Rebecca de Souza argues that food pantries stigmatize their clients through a discourse that emphasizes hard work, self help, and economic productivity rather than food justice and equity. De Souza describes this “framing, blaming, and shaming” as “neoliberal stigma” that recasts the structural issue of hunger as a problem for the individual hungry person. De Souza shows how neoliberal stigma plays out in practice through a comparative case analysis of two food pantries in Duluth, Minnesota. Doing so, she documents the seldom-acknowledged voices, experiences, and realities of people living with hunger. She describes the failure of public institutions to protect citizens from poverty and hunger; the white privilege of pantry volunteers caught between neoliberal narratives and social justice concerns; the evangelical conviction that food assistance should be “a hand up, not a handout”; the culture of suspicion in food pantry spaces; and the constraints on food choice. It is only by rejecting the neoliberal narrative and giving voice to the hungry rather than the privileged, de Souza argues, that food pantries can become agents of food justice.

Author: Michael Dudley
Publisher: American Library Association
ISBN: 0838911366
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
Public libraries are keystone public institutions for any thriving community, and as such can be leaders in making cities better places to work, play, and live. Here, Dudley shows how public libraries can contribute to 'placemaking', or the creation and nurturing of vital and unique communities for their residents.

Author: Jenn Carson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538139766
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Beyond Books: Adult Library Programs for a New Era takes us out of the stacks and past the traditional walls of the library to reach underserved and overworked adults in our communities -- adults who might not think they need the library in their lives. Readers are introduced to the concept of adult programming through a multifaceted approach based on a solid foundation of behavioral science, real-life library experience, and data on current trends in libraries and other institutions. This book posits that offering diverse adult programs is an important catalyst for fostering community connection and individual wellness, and that no librarian needs to deliver them alone. Partnerships are not only helpful; they are essential to preventing librarian burnout. Themes of the book center on passive versus active programs, the importance of intergenerational involvement, and programs that touch a variety of topics divided by the following sections: Food & Drink, Arts & Crafts, Books & Writing, Technology & Media, Health & Wellness, Business & Finance, and Nature & Gardening. This book provides clear, step-by-step models and strategies for delivering adult programs (both in-person and online), including where to find funding, getting administrative and municipal buy-in, creating partnerships in the community, addressing possible legal issues, marketing tactics, training staff and volunteers, and how to evaluate programs. Whether you’re a student, a brand new recruit, or a seasoned public or academic librarian, there will be something in this book to inspire you to move your adult library programs beyond book clubs (without losing those too!).

Author: George J. Fowler
Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing
ISBN: 1787569055
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
This volume will explore the current purpose of librarianship and libraries, how we become “Masters of our Domains”, develop expertise in various elements of the profession, and how we extend outward into our communities.

Author: Michael T. Compton
Publisher: American Psychiatric Pub
ISBN: 1585625175
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
The Social Determinants of Mental Health aims to fill the gap that exists in the psychiatric, scholarly, and policy-related literature on the social determinants of mental health: those factors stemming from where we learn, play, live, work, and age that impact our overall mental health and well-being. The editors and an impressive roster of chapter authors from diverse scholarly backgrounds provide detailed information on topics such as discrimination and social exclusion; adverse early life experiences; poor education; unemployment, underemployment, and job insecurity; income inequality, poverty, and neighborhood deprivation; food insecurity; poor housing quality and housing instability; adverse features of the built environment; and poor access to mental health care. This thought-provoking book offers many beneficial features for clinicians and public health professionals: Clinical vignettes are included, designed to make the content accessible to readers who are primarily clinicians and also to demonstrate the practical, individual-level applicability of the subject matter for those who typically work at the public health, population, and/or policy level. Policy implications are discussed throughout, designed to make the content accessible to readers who work primarily at the public health or population level and also to demonstrate the policy relevance of the subject matter for those who typically work at the clinical level. All chapters include five to six key points that focus on the most important content, helping to both prepare the reader with a brief overview of the chapter's main points and reinforce the "take-away" messages afterward. In addition to the main body of the book, which focuses on selected individual social determinants of mental health, the volume includes an in-depth overview that summarizes the editors' and their colleagues' conceptualization, as well as a final chapter coauthored by Dr. David Satcher, 16th Surgeon General of the United States, that serves as a "Call to Action," offering specific actions that can be taken by both clinicians and policymakers to address the social determinants of mental health. The editors have succeeded in the difficult task of balancing the individual/clinical/patient perspective and the population/public health/community point of view, while underscoring the need for both groups to work in a unified way to address the inequities in twenty-first century America. The Social Determinants of Mental Health gives readers the tools to understand and act to improve mental health and reduce risk for mental illnesses for individuals and communities. Students preparing for the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) will also benefit from this book, as the MCAT in 2015 will test applicants' knowledge of social determinants of health. The social determinants of mental health are not distinct from the social determinants of physical health, although they deserve special emphasis given the prevalence and burden of poor mental health.