Spruce Pine Library Branch Manager Jessica Jackson collects donations from the little free hygiene box on Friday, March 26. The box was designed to help locals in the community meet their basic hygiene needs. Penland artist Keith Moir designed the box and Jackson said she is glad to have it in place. (MNJ photo/Cory Spiers)
Thinking inside the box isn’t typically associated with something positive, but it’s exactly what the Spruce Pine Library is doing with its newly-implemented little free hygiene box.
The little free hygiene box, which is a public birdhouse-like box that is similar to the little free library boxes across the nation that are filled with free books to be borrowed, is in place in the back parking lot of the Spruce Pine Library and is stocked with donated basic hygiene products that people in need may require.
The planning for the box began early in the ongoing pandemic when AMY Regional Library staff began to discuss ways to reach and provide free hygiene products to those who are struggling with job loss or displacement.
AMY Library staff discussed an idea they saw from The Asheville Period Project which funded a hygiene hub in front of the Kenilworth Church.
“The design of that hub immediately reminded us of the little free libraries individuals or community groups create in rural communities,” said AMY Library Director Amber Westall Briggs. “That’s when we thought we could do this.”
AMY Library staff joined Penland School of Craft Community Collaborations Manager Stacey Lane and Penland artist Keith Moir on a Zoom call and quickly formulated a plan to create a public hygiene hub at the Spruce Pine Library.
Lane helped coordinate the communication and Moir built the box.
Spruce Pine Library Branch Manager Jessica Jackson said she is thrilled to see the box in the community.
“We think this is just one more way we can alleviate the stress that people have right now,” Jackson said.
The little free hygiene box contains supplies like soap, toothbrushes, shaving kits, feminine hygiene products and deodorant. All products are donations from the public and are free to anyone who needs them.
“Libraries are more than just books,” Westall Briggs said. “When we see a need among our patrons and our community, we want to help.”
Jackson and Spruce Pine Library Associate Librarian Katie Elkins are also working to develop signage to better promote the box.
Jackson said anyone interested in donating products can bring them to the Spruce Pine Library, adding that donors should call ahead to say they’re coming.
Other libraries in the AMY Library system are actively implementing similar boxes, but the box at the Spruce Pine Library is the first of its kind for the system.
“We have patrons all the time asking what the birdhouse box is and their first reaction is that it’s kind of weird,” Jackson said. “Once we explain it, they say it’s great. We’ve already had lots of donations. We’re very pleased with how it looks and how it’s been received.”