According to the Arizona Department of Education, over 85% of children in the vicinity of the Santa Rosa Library in south Tucson qualify for free or reduced lunches. Most of these children have parents who work two or more low-wage jobs and are away from home for most of the day, making it difficult to provide regular and consistent meals for their families. Some of these children do not have access to their homes while their parents are at work so they remain at the library until it closes each night. They don’t have snacks packed in their backpacks except for the occasional bag of Hot Cheetos. Sharing a parking lot with an elementary school and located across the street from a Section 8 Housing development, Santa Rosa has served as a safe space in a historically underserved neighborhood since it opened in 1996. When the school day is over, anywhere from 60-100 children walk to the library and use computers, read books, and do homework each weekday. The Santa Rosa Library serves a diverse population varying from families who have lived in Barrio Santa Rosa for generations to refugee families and others who are new to the United States. Goals for this program include alleviating hunger after school as well as educating children in the library about the importance of making healthy choices.

Santa Rosa staff contacted the Southern Arizona Community Food Bank in early 2013 to research options that could help provide a solution to the problem of childhood hunger in the neighborhood. The best option was for the library to become an Agency Market which serves unprepared snacks to children in need. The Friends of the Pima County Public Library agreed to sponsor the Library as a 501c3 in order for Santa Rosa to qualify for the program. To address concerns about food allergies and sensitivities, students from the University of Arizona’s College of Nursing program created parent permission forms in English and Spanish for children to take home. From these permission slips, staff members compiled a list of attendees’ names, their food allergies if applicable, and emergency contact information. This list is consulted during each snack time to mitigate the risk of reactions and to keep statistics of attendance. As part of the Pima County Public Library Nurse Initiative, Pima County Public Health Nurses were vital to the establishment of the Santa Rosa Snack Program. Santa Rosa’s own nurse advised library staff on potential obstacles such as food allergies while she educated staff on food safety. She helps prepare and serve snacks every other Thursday. Each permanent staff member at Santa Rosa was required to take a food safety course before being able to handle snacks. The library staff area has three dedicated clean cabinets to hold food in order to follow health codes and avoid any potential contamination from non-food items. Santa Rosa chooses items from the Community Food Bank each week including fresh and sometimes local fruit, granola bars, dry cereal, and juice.

Over 200 children have submitted parent-signed permission slips for Santa Rosa Snacks. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, staff will hand out anywhere from 30 to 60 small meals to hungry school-aged children. Since the program began in September of 2013, Santa Rosa staff members have served over 1,900 healthy snacks. In December of 2013, surveys were created and distributed for regular Snack Time attendees to fill out and return. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Most kids reported feeling calmer, happier and more focused after they had eaten their snacks. When asked if Snack Time had exposed them to new fruits and vegetables, 17 said “yes.” Suggestions and comments kids wrote included requests for even more fruits and vegetables, demands for more “junk food”, suggestions for smoothies and movie watching, and a few that simply said “I love Snack Time.” In addition to the positive feedback from children receiving snacks, new families in the area have come for Snack Time and stayed to enjoy other resources the library has to offer. Staff has observed that children participating in the program are more focused and there has been a decrease in child-related behavioral issues within the library. Five other Pima County Public Library branches are currently making plans to adopt similar programs for their young patrons. Staff members at Santa Rosa believe this is a successful new program complete with many educational opportunities for children to learn about fresh and local food, cleanliness, and the health of their bodies and minds.