In what was once part of the travel section, the Mansfield Public Library in Temple now hosts a miniature food pantry stocked with soups, cans of tuna and chicken, pasta and sauce, toilet paper and soap.
Library Director Beth Crooker said the pantry, implemented at the start of November, was created to fill a void left by cuts to SNAP benefits due to the government shutdown.
While Temple residents are served by the nearby St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Greenville, the recent closure of the Faith Food Pantry, which was once run by the Congregational Church of Temple, left a gap Crooker wanted to fill. She said she wanted people to have a local option, even if it was for just enough staples to get by for a few days.
“It started with me just bringing some food from home. I put it on the shelves, took a picture, posted it, and said we’re taking donations if anyone wants to bring some by. And people did,” Crooker said.
Crooker said the library recently ran a back-to-school food drive for the ConVal School District’s End 68 Hours of Hunger program and received hundreds of items from the community.
“Our community is obviously generous, and people want to help,” Crooker said.
What started with a bar of soap, a few boxes of pasta, a box of cereal and two cans of soup has grown into several shelves of simple offerings.
“We don’t have a lot of room, but we did have some empty shelves I wanted to put to some use,” Crooker said.
The pantry is community-supported — stocked with donations from residents who want to help. There is no process to apply, disclose income, or prove residency in Temple, Crooker said. And while SNAP cuts inspired the project, Crooker said people do not have to have previously been on any kind of assistance to utilize the pantry. If someone is in need, they can walk into the library at any time it’s open, take a provided bag from the shelves, and take what they need.
“There’s no questions asked. We want people to take it, that’s why it’s there,” Crooker said.
Crooker said the library will gauge community interest in keeping the pantry after the SNAP cuts are resolved, but she’s open to continuing it if it proves useful.
The pantry is open the same hours as the library: Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 3 to 7 p.m., Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.