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Summer lunch, library partnership a success as lunch numbers jump

Children and adults crowd the Schmidt Gallery at the Hays Public Library this summer. The program had almost double the numbers it did last year after moving to the library. File photo

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays USD 489 summer lunch program almost doubled the number of meals it served to children this summer after the program moved to the Hays Public Library.

This summer, the program served 8,101 children’s meals — an average of 168 daily. Last year, the program served a total of 4,866 children, a 101-meal daily average.

The lunch program offers free hot lunches to children 18 and younger. Adults can dine with children for a small fee.

Adult numbers were also up — 936 total meals this year compared to 671 total meals in 2018.

The program had been located in the former Washington school, but the program had to be moved this summer because the Early Childhood Connections program that is housed at Washington was being moved to its new home on 13th Street.

Jessica Younker, USD 489 director of nutrition services, said there were some challenges in the move to the library because the library does not have a full kitchen. However, after the first couple of weeks, the staff fell into a routine and worked out the issues with space and the influx of more children being served.

USD 489 was in its second year of a snack program offered at HPL. That program’s use was down slightly. The program served 2,939 snacks in 2019 compared to 2,977 snacks in 2018. That equals about 61 snacks per day.

Younker attributed the increase in the number of meals served to the change in location and the programming the library offered around the lunch program.

“It was a one stop shop for fun, enriching activities and a tasty meal,” she said. “It’s really a win-win for the families in our community!”

The library offered a program — Astronaut Training Academy — right before the lunch program opened for meals. Children learned about space and the planets and also did weekly exercise programs just as astronauts would have to do to stay healthy in space. The summer reading program theme was space.

Children participate in the library’s Astronaut Training Academy this summer. The program was scheduled weekdays right before lunch was served at the library. File photo

Meagan Zampieri, HPL youth services manager, said she also thought having the lunch program helped boost participation in the library’s programs.

I do think the lunch program brought more kids to the library for our offerings,” she said. “We had a significant increase in program attendance even outside of our lunch numbers. I believe we had an increase of about 300 registrations, and an additional several hundred at programs in July.”

The library had 1,665 youth who registered for the summer reading program. Of those, 785 children completed the program. The library received 1,727 reading logs, which was equal to eight hours and 20 minutes of reading each. 

Overall, 18,841 people attended youth services programs through the summer, and there were 1,534 adults at adult department events. 

Children’s programs will fire up again in September. After school activities are offered at the library. To learn more about the HPL programs, visit the library website or call the children’s department at 785-625-9014.

Both Younker and Zampieri said they intend to recommend a continued cooperation between the library and USD 489 on the summer lunch program.

I do recommend that the library be the lunch site again next year,” Zampieri said. “We’ve learned a lot, and so far as I know, we are all in agreement at the value that the program has to our community.”

Younker said, “Our goal is to provide a great service to the community, and we hope it continues to grow.”

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