With more than 3,500 children living full-time in Key West, the public library is bound to be a destination of choice for many during the summer months. The library offers many summer activities for these children, including the annual Summer Reading Club, visits from the Sheriff’s Animal Farm, musical entertainers, magicians, and even video games.

With all that activity, many young visitors end up spending all day at the library and forget to bring a snack or lunch. That’s why Children’s Services Coordinator Riona Campbell started the Healthy Snack Program at the library.

With funding from the Friends of the Library, young visitors last summer were offered a snack bag containing a selection of items such as fruit, baked chips, and granola bars. Riona says, “I wanted to give them food they like that also had nutritional value. The snack program was the key to keeping the kids behaving last summer.”

The Friends of the Library has already agreed to continue funding this program through the winter months for library’s afternoon and weekend youth visitors.