The Jaffrey Public Library and the Jaffrey Food Pantry are teaming up to help close the food insecurity gap, with a pop-up food cupboard that will be available at the library during all open hours.

Library Director Julie Perrin said the library’s pantry isn’t meant to cover all a person’s needs, but holds some simple items such as soups, canned sides and snacks. They are intended to be enough for a meal or two to hold people over if people are in a pinch in between visits to the food pantry – which is open once a week – or just to help ease the burden for people struggling with increased grocery prices.

Perrin said the library has been involved in multiple programs that have the dual goal of teaching children about their food and where it comes from and helping to provide sustenance. Programs include the library’s Farm Fresh Checkout, where local farms provide produce which is kept in a refrigerator at the library for anyone to take, and its Seed Library, where members can take seeds to grow their own produce, and are encouraged (but not required) to return seeds from the fruits of their labor at the end of the summer.

Both those programs are in their resting phase, but Perrin said they will start up again in the spring.

This is also not the first time the library has worked with the food pantry, as the pantry helps provide snacks to the library to share with children after school. And in the last few years, the pantry has provided to-go bags with some food items that residents could take from the library, which Perrin said had grown so popular that the library struggled to keep the bags stocked.

“It’s been something we’ve been working up to for several years,” Perrin said.

The pop-up pantry is a shelf next to the library’s cookbooks, as well as its children’s books about food and where it comes from in one of the library’s rooms off the main entrance. These are intentional choices meant to encourage people to take what they need, when they need it, Perrin said. While the selection is small, it is more-often available, and to people whom might not want to visit the food pantry, though Perrin emphasized that the pop-up is not a replacement for a full pantry visit.

“This is a space that can be that in-between,” Perrin said. “If you’re struggling to make it to that next paycheck, or if you have a family, and grocery prices are crazy. We have seniors who come to the library often, who are struggling to make ends meet.”

There is no qualification process to access the pantry, and it is open to everyone, Perrin said. There is no requirement to be a card-holder or Jaffrey resident, or to notify staff when someone takes items from the shelves.

“It’s just open, and there for whomever needs it,” Perrin said.

All of the food on the shelf is provided by the Jaffrey Food Pantry, and refills are is as needed.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.