Arizona Librarians Enhancing Resilient Rural Communities

Anti-Bullying Program - the Toley Ranz Way 1st - 5th graders and their families learn how to strenghten self-reliance and stand up to bullying. Toley Ranz supports, encourages, models, and teachess health, productive behavior and communication in children. Families and youth will receive learning materials: books, access to e-books, and guides. This proposal emerged from talks about how to curb truency - bullying in schools as one causal factor.

PALS mobile Safely Serving Rural Coconino County Mobile library for children who may not otherwise have access to a public library: visits pre-schools throughout the county for storytime and resource circulation promoting early literacy, partnering with local community groups to address food insecurity and health disparities, provides hygiene items, programming for children with special needs, referral point for social services, reducing isolation through storytime discussions about race and BIPOC representation, reflects community with books in Dine and bilingual Spanish/English. Addresses digital divide as a free hot spot to communities visited.

Addressing Health & Well-Being through Education & Related Materials Access Specialty loaner items to  patrons across Coconino to enhance personal health and well-being by stimulating mental and physical health of library patrons: outdoor recreational equipment, explorer bags hosting STEM material and other supplies for children and young adults, musical instruments, digital cameras, outdoor and indoor board games, tools, and gardening equipment.

Healthy Choices at Your Library aims to give participants the tools they need to make educated choices about their families’ health and wellbeing by assisting children in making educated choices about health and well-being: nutrition classes, preparation of a healthy snack, STEAM club activity of executing a recipe,  cooking and salad making activity culminating in a meal and celebration, provision of healthy snacks for kids coming to the library after school, family yoga workshops. Participants will receive take home bag with items to encourage cooking at home.

Feed the Body, Feed the Mind is a monthly adult book and healthy cooking club to increase community engagement, decreasing isolation (referenced effects of pandemic). By creating communal meals, patrons will learn skills to prepare health and budgel friendly dishes and connect with community members  while also engaging in conversations about books.

Women and Self-Care Monthly educational workshops focusing on different aspects of women's health: personal safety, nutrition, exercise, emotional health, positive body image. Take home resources to reinforce topics. Project aims to support women who are in need of factual, reliable tools and educational resources to promote health living.

Growing Mentally and Physically Strong programs gardening workshops, health cooking workshops, promoting plant-based nutrition, kids yoga program, social and emotional health education programs for all ages, workshops for adults on managing stress. 

Health and Wellbeing in a Small Community provides a new collection of books and DVDs to foster health, wellness, emotional, and over-all well-being for the very small, very rural town of Hayden. Expand resource collection and programming that has been waning due to lack of funds. Outreach to the community through tabling at senior center and school. 

Initiating the Navajo Nation Library Early Childhood Literacy Pilot Program empowers Diné community members through literacy, technology, creativity, and personal and intellectual growth that will support and encourage multi-generational learners.

Page Strong - Programs for school-aged youth: healthy cooking, personal hygience habits, anti-bullying, and a field trip to the Children's Museum (St. George). Programs will also focus on emotional literacy, problem solving/conflict mediation, and learning skills to support healthy friendships.

Wellness for Body & Mind offers yoga, mindfulness, and meditation programs to three age groups (youth, seniors, combined) and create self-guided sessions for circulation.

Young Chefs - expands current programs (Little Chefs, Young Chefs) tailored to older children with more complicated recipes, use of kitchen equipment, further introduction to healthy foods. Goal is to broaden healthy cooking/eating to families who for generations may have relied on boxed and canned meals.

Rising Youth Theater at Aguila Library In 2023, in partnership with YWCA of Arizona, Rising Youth Theatre partnered to bring a theatre project to Aguila, Arizona, working with young people to talk about mental health. Rising Youth Theatre’s teaching artists spent four days working at the Aguila library with young people, who ultimately created an original performance that was shared for their families alongside a performance from Rising Youth Theatre. Over the course of this work, their experience with the intersection between mental health and substance abuse came up over and over again. The performance that we created was ultimately about how substance abuse and mental health challenges intersect, and how we can better care for and support each other as a community. The project was extremely successful and all of the participants - artists, library staff, and young people - were all enthusiastic about the possibility of continuing. Grant funding would support a week long engagement at the Aguila library, where artists and young people would collaborate to continue using theatre, storytelling, visual art, and other creative tools to explore substance abuse and implement new strategies for prevention, for supporting each other and for intergenerational understanding.

Care Kits for Those in Need Bouse Arizona is a rural community in the desert with the majority of our population over the age of 70. We also have a great number of homeless/transient people that live in the desert with very little resources. Providing essential Care Kits is a way to provide immediate assistance to those in need. Items listed in these Care Kits include: * A waterproof zippered bag * Toothbrush/tooth paste * Bar of soap, microfiber face cloth and hand wipes * Shampoo, conditioner and lotion * Deoderant * Razor and shave cream * Nail clipper and hair brush Providing Care Kits can also help foster a sense of community and connection. By creating and gifting these kits we can show that we care about the wellbeing of our neighbors and those in need.

Learning CPR AED First Aid at the Clifton Public Library - The goal of this project is to provide classes for CPR, AED, and First Aid training and certification to our adult community members. The unique situation we encountered is the lack of trainers for the general public. There are two trainers in Greenlee County. One is dedicated to training mine employees, EMS, and law enforcement. The other is dedicated to medical personnel. The only other option for in-person training is to travel out of the county with the expense and travel time identified as barriers. An exciting opportunity has opened up for us; a new member to our community is an American Heart Association instructor. He is available to participate in this project and can accommodate a flexible schedule. Classes will be for adult community member and held on-site at the Clifton Public Library. Classes will be free, require registration, and documentation will be gathered from participants about what impact the classes had for them. Participants will get a certificate for successful completion of training. Funds will be used to purchase an AED, supplies, and pay the instructor.

Mental Health and Well Being Serving the Sensory Needs of Families The library will introduce 3 programs to families who need support for children with disabilities. 1) The library already circulates toys for children that teach pre-literacy skills. It is such a popular collection that few toys are ever available. Staff wants to expand the collection with sensory toys that would improve the manual dexterity and pre-literacy skills of children with disabilities. The library will also include a read-along book in each new bag that focuses on overcoming developmental and emotional challenges. 2) The library distributes about 25 bags of grab & go craft kits monthly. It is a very popular program. However, families report that some of their children do not have the coordination to complete the kits. The library would like to supplement this program with a different take & make kit for the children who struggle with the regular crafts. The library will offer these kits 4 times during the grant cycle. 3) Parents often find comfort when sharing the challenges they face with other parents facing the same issues. The library will find speakers who offer tips for obtaining services for their children. For example, the library may bring in a physical therapist or occupational therapist to give the parents tips on increasing the children’s strength or mobility. Another example would be a speaker who would help the parents address the child’s anger or overstimulation. The speakers may also provide outlets for the adults to unwind. The library will see if they can find a yoga teacher or someone who will provide other mindfulness resources. The speakers may come from area social service agencies that serve families of children who have special needs.

Tough Topics at the Copper Queen Library Over the years, the CQL has focused its mission to promote healthy lifestyles in our community through programs, initiatives, and collections. With this grant, CQL staff would like to target what we are calling “Tough Topics”, which will bring much needed resources and attention to difficult issues that people face both in Bisbee and across the country. These “Tough Topics” include legal difficulties, mental and physical health problems, bullying, relationship issues, abuse, addiction, homelessness, and more. Most of these topics are sensitive and personal subjects for people, and having these topics represented in the CQL’s collections and resources is very important. CQL staff will use grant funds to tackle some of these topics in a variety of ways, including purchasing new print materials, adding to the CQL’s Library of Things, creating and implementing programs, and collaborating with other organizations to help promote community health and wellness resources and services. The CQL’s health and wellness collection was last updated in 2017, in partnership with the Cochise County Health Department and the Arizona State Library. CQL staff will use these grant funds to expand that collection to include more resources on these “Tough Topics.” The CQL will also use funds to expand the CQL’s Library of Things to include more health and wellness items that patrons can check out, which will include blood pressure kits, sports equipment to use in our city parks and hiking, and birding backpacks to encourage patrons to get outside and walk. Additionally, the CQL will use grant monies to fund our Health & Hygiene Caring Kits, which provide Bisbee’s most at-risk community with health and wellness items, as well as local resources that can offer them assistance. And finally, the CQL will use funds to offer mental health and homeless trainings for city staff, volunteers and interested community organizations in an effort to build social equity in the Bisbee community.

Healthy Choices at Your Library aims to give participants the tools they need to make educated choices about their families’ health and wellbeing by assisting children in making educated choices about health and well-being: nutrition classes, preparation of a healthy snack, STEAM club activity of executing a recipe,  cooking and salad making activity culminating in a meal and celebration, provision of healthy snacks for kids coming to the library after school, family yoga workshops. Participants will receive take home bag with items to encourage cooking at home.

Feed the Body, Feed the Mind is a monthly adult book and healthy cooking club to increase community engagement, decreasing isolation (referenced effects of pandemic). By creating communal meals, patrons will learn skills to prepare health and budgel friendly dishes and connect with community members  while also engaging in conversations about books.

Developing youth services at Edward McElwain Library -The library staff would like to implement programming focused on the youth of the reservation. This would include purchasing books for age groups: infant to 5, 6-12, and 13-18. There would also be book bundles purchased for a book club for teenagers. For infants and young children, the library would purchase "brain boxes" which are designed to help with brain development. The program would also like to purchase hand puppets for younger children to engage in learning and reading. The library will also partner with other tribal departments and programs to help deliver additional programming to the community. This would include working with the Hualapai Health Education and Wellness department to have an early childhood program.

Memory Care We feel there is a need in our community that is currently not being met in serving older citizens who suffer with some type of memory loss. Our community currently does not offer any type of services or programs to assist memory loss issues. The nearest facility that offers Memory Care programs is located approximately 45 miles from Florence. Libraries are a trusted source of reliable and factual information as well as a source for programming that meets the needs of our community. Our objective with this project is to provide a memory care program that will preserve the participant’s dignity, help maintain quality of life, maximize function in daily activities, enhance cognition ability, improve mood and behavior all in a safe and welcoming environment. We will also provide support to caregivers by providing respite and sharing valuable resources from reliable sources such as NLM, Medline Plus, and Healthline that will assist them in their endeavors to care for their loved one. Our program will seek to engage citizens who suffer with memory loss by providing a monthly, 60 minute program that will include board games, puzzles, matching games, simple crafts, music therapy, arts, sensory therapy and hand-eye coordination activities. We will provide caregivers a much needed break and provide them with tools and tips on how to care for their loved one. When someone has memory loss, many of their cognitive skills also decline. This include some of the day to day tasks that we all take for granted but create a barrier for those struggling with memory loss. Research has suggested that gaming, puzzles, art, music, hand-eye coordination activities and sensory activities help keep the brain stimulated which in turn improves the quality of life for those with memory loss issues.

Growing Strong Mind and Body Globe Public Library has been working on improving the physical health of the citizens in our community by offering healthy cooking workshops, exercise programs, and a walking club with the help of AZ Health Zone. With the last AHEAD AZ mini-grant we were able to train staff in kids yoga, get food handlers certification, and create three programs that are thriving (Kids Yoga, Kids Gardening, and SEL kits to check out using Slumberkins. We were also able to increase the materials we have for teaching Social-Emotional Skills in our Family Storytime. We want to expand on these programs by starting an adult yoga program, a stress reduction program for parents, and a healthy cooking program that encourages families to create a menu and cook together.

Wellness Health and Resilience through a Small Town Library To be a resource of health, wellbeing and resilience in a small town of few resources. The Hayden Public Library has been a staple in the community it serves. It has been a place of refuge for both the adults and children in the area - by utilizing the funds for this grant the library can continue to offer programming that helps foster relationships, wellbeing and health for the patrons it serves. Our goal is to provide programming that will help teach and foster healthy habits and hobbies. In October our goal is to start a Seed Library and club. We want to educate our patrons about the many different plants, fruits, and vegetables. This club will encourage our patrons to takes seeds and integrate them into their at home gardens. We will encourage trading and sharing amongst one another and of course donation to the library. Gardening and horticulture have monumental health benefits not only for nutrition but mentally and physically. Throughout November - December we anticipate to promote health through the holidays. In January, we would like to explore and educate our patrons on mindfulness. Our goal is to help educate our patrons about how to be mindful despite life's stressors and changes. Promote ways to help manage the new year with health habits that are not only physical. We will use the funds to help with programming and our collection. With February being heart health month - we would like to potentially host a CPR class and have a health professional come in and educate and blood pressure. For spring, we are going to start our Gardening Club. With the weather getting warmer, our goal is to help educate our patrons about the benefits of gardening. Help them start their own gardens to take home - and provide hands on learning to both our youth and older residents. We would utilize the funds for materials and collection.

Huachuca City Library Diaper Bank The Huachuca City Library aims to establish a diaper bank program to provide low-income families and caregivers with access to free diapers. A diaper bank serves as a vital resource for low-income families and caregivers who struggle to afford an essential item for their infants and toddlers. Diapers are a recurring expense that can place a significant financial burden on low-income families. Since babies require multiple diaper changes each day, the cost of diapers can add up quickly, making it difficult for families to pay for other essential needs like food, housing, and healthcare. Many state or federal assistance programs such as WIC and SNAP or other charitable organizations do not cover the cost of diapers. This leaves a gap in support for families who rely on such programs for other essentials but still struggle to afford diapers. We aim to establish a monthly diaper bank pick up from the library. Participating families will be asked to fill out a basic request form each month to indicate their children’s sizes and anticipated needs. These will be used for planning purposes, and requests will be filled in the order in which they are received. During the diaper pick up day, the families will be able to choose free books so they can build a home library, and they will receive an information sheet with the contact details of local organizations who can provide additional services to the families, as well as an early literacy tip and a simple early literacy no cost activity that caregivers can do with their child. We will also coordinate the diaper hand out day to match a day when a mobile health care center outreach team is at our facility, and caregivers will be able to receive health and wellness checks as well as help in applying for social services or gaining access to low-cost health care.

Fostering Fitness at MML This project consists of improving access to fitness in the form of free, twice weekly Tai Chi classes and a free, weekly Yoga class at the library (priority area 1). While there are other agencies in the community offering exercise opportunities, those often come at a cost that many in the community cannot afford. Therefore, free fitness classes at the library help offset the disparity between those that can pay for fitness and those that cannot. The Tai Chi classes will be taught by a Tai Chi expert and the Yoga class taught by an experienced Yoga instructor. Because we are having professional instructors, they are qualified to promote the health and well-being benefits of their respective practices to their participants (priority area 2). Some of the benefits of Tai Chi include muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and aerobic conditioning according to the Harvard Health Publishing website and lowered blood pressure according to the health company, Abott. Some of the benefits of Yoga include strength, balance, flexibility, and a healthier heart according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website. Because both practices are forms of exercise and address heart health, the project will help address the health issues of heart disease and obesity which are currently prevalent in our community. By offering this project the library is also putting a social protective structure in place (priority area 3) as both Tai Chi and Yoga are group classes. Our community will have the opportunity to engage with one another, reducing isolation, while finding their fitness at the library. In terms of timeline, the month of September will focus on marketing and the classes will run from October through April, approximately 30 weeks. Attendance will be taken at each class and a pre-survey and post-survey will be given for data collection for each participant when possible. Waivers will be required for all participants to cover liability.

Indoor Gardening for Health and Well Being The Indoor Gardening for Health and Well Being Project would provide 8-14 indoor garden systems, growth nutrients, and gardening information to be used throughout Navajo County Library District and its member libraries. Each participating library would receive a kit with at least 1 indoor garden system, nutrients for a year, seeds, and supplemental healthy eating and gardening materials including instructions, indoor gardening books, healthy eating and cooking books, mental wellness and gardening materials, and mental wellness books, tips, and programming ideas as well as being able to request a Navajo County Staff member to host or assist in a program(s). Each kit would vary in materials so they could be rotated and have different information to learn. For example one kit might have an emphasis on herbs, another on vegetables, microgreens, fruit, flowers, house plants, gardening for kids, etc. C2.

Dine Nizhoni iina Our People Living Beautifully through Movement and Health Literacy As the fall and winter seasons approach we would like to focus on activities one can do indoors. Data from our local hospital shows an increase in sedentary life styles in the younger and older population in the Fort Defiance area and neighboring communities. The sedentary lifestyle could be attributed to lack of parks where one could enjoy long walks or join the agency fitness centers. The list of disparities is long, but one of our solutions to the problem is to provide community physical events and invite local resources to demonstrate healthy eating habits! During the Fall, we plan to take advantage of the cooler weather and offer a month-long walking challenge, and during the colder months, a Zumba challenge and senior yoga (perhaps chair yoga too). We would like to emphasize cultural knowledge sharing and storytelling too. During the events we will invite local resources to set up an information table prior to the start of the walk, Zumba, and Senior Yoga. All the physical activities will require the participant to sign-in each time, and a sweatshirt will be given as their incentive. We would also like to purchase water bottles to encourage healthy habits. In addition, we would also like to host a Health Fair at our library and invite as many local resources as possible. We would also like to invite neighboring hospitals to set up their mobile health unit to provide health screenings and vaccinations. Lastly we will wrap up the activities with a gardening event that is culturally relevant during the spring. As mentioned before making each event culturally sensitive is a continuous goal of the Navajo Nation Library, along with literacy awareness.

Health and Wellness through Meditation and Hydroponics - Promote Health & Well-Being through Meditation and Hydroponics. In this program, teens/tweens will investigate plants in depth through Science, Technology, Art, and Math. As well as explore the art of Mindfulness through Meditation. The program will start and end with a 10-15 minute meditation and the main part of the class will be targeted toward learning about plant life, the plant life cycle, and using Hydroponics for plant growth. This program will use “Back to the Roots Hydroponic Grow Kits”, Lakeshore Plants Activity Tub, and yoga mats/essential oils.

Healthy Living grant This Healthy Living Project would include 4 ways to impact our community. 1. Update our health book collection to include healthy living cookbooks. 2Simple Healthy Home Recipe classes. 3. Outside enclosed bulletin board for community notices of activities offered at Pine/Strawberry Senior DiningRoom and other healthwise community events. 3. Healthy Living STEAM Kit for children.

Balance for Life Balance for Life is a yoga instruction program designed to promote a healthy lifestyle for residents of Snowflake and Taylor. The yoga instruction will take place in the Snowflake-Taylor Public Library’s Community Room. Three different classes will be offered: Yoga for Kids, Basic Yoga, and Chair Yoga. The aim of these courses is to provide yoga instruction for all ages and stages of life. The classes will focus on flexibility, strength, balance, breathing and general wellness. Each of the three courses will be offered in six-week sessions in both Fall 2023 and Winter 2024. The classes will accommodate twelve participants each and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. A qualified instructor will lead the classes and the library will provide the necessary equipment for participants. Attendees will be provided with reusable water bottles to encourage hydration. The library will also provide materials available to check out that will support the yoga instruction and encourage continued education and participation in yoga. Balance for Life will be the first program of its kind for the Snowflake-Taylor Public Library.

Early Childhood Literacy Development This project would target newborns and support children's development and learning at an early age. It would promote literacy, to give information to parents on their child's early development. We can provide what our library has to offer and ways we can support them. Parents need to be aware of the importance of literacy at an early age. We could include gift packages to newborn. I would need to collaborate with our local hospital and WIC off to distribute these packs. I hope we will be able to do this and help our community this way.

Story Walk To create a Story Walk at a nearby park. A Story Walk is an activity that engages families in literacy and getting active. Pages from a children’s book are placed in displays along a walkable path. The path would circle our nearby family park called Coffinger Park. The entire route around the park would be about half a mile. Families travel along the path reading the story one page at a time. Different activities can also be incorporated in to each display that go along with the page being read such as questions to ask each other or activities to do. This encourages interaction and movement between the family members. For example, the story page could be talking about a family going on a picnic. One of the activities next to the story page could be for the child reading the page to describe to their parent/guardian what their favorite food to take on a picnic is. It might also suggest planning a day to have a picnic in the park together. Another example could be a story that is talking about exercise. The activity that would go along with one of the pages could be to do 20 jumping jacks and 10 squats. The activities and ideas could be endless. This grant would be used for creating the weather proof display stands the book pages go in to, as well as the purchase of the books to be changed out several times a year.

Young Chefs - expands current programs (Little Chefs, Young Chefs) tailored to older children with more complicated recipes, use of kitchen equipment, further introduction to healthy foods. Goal is to broaden healthy cooking/eating to families who for generations may have relied on boxed and canned meals.