Accio Books & Mental Health: How Building Libraries Can Help Survivors in Puerto Rico
This piece is a part of our Accio Books series, exploring issues related to literacy, education, and libraries. To find out more about how to get involved and support Accio Books, visit thehpalliance.org/accio_books.
Water seeped into the carpets, damaging infrastructure, soaking into the precious books, and seeding the buildings with mold. Like much of the island, libraries and community hubs in Puerto Rico are facing a significant crisis. Many of the books that were ruined by the flood waters from Hurricane Maria have to be thrown out. Older texts and historical documents are in danger from the saturated conditions. There is barely any electricity, even nine months after the hurricane. Internet connection is unreliable at best.
While most of Puerto Rico’s libraries and community centers are in peril, the loss of libraries big and small on the island has harsher implications for its residents. Everyone is always welcome in libraries, no matter whom that someone is,what they believe, or even what they want to learn. This is true from the Hogwarts library (under the steady eye of Madame Pince), to the Unseen University library in Ankh-Morpork (please remember your ball of string. L-space is difficult to navigate), to local libraries anywhere in the world, and especially to those in Puerto Rico. That magical feeling of calm and safety amidst the books permeates everyone who walks through the doors of any library (and, let’s be honest, every bookshop) in the world.
Libraries of all sizes have always been considered safe spaces — for learning, for comfort, or just a quiet place to read and recharge. But they have also been the base for the provision of important community resources. A 2005 study from the University of Philadelphia showed that libraries in Philadelphia offered classes and helped 5.8 million people who needed help, and information on topics such as mental health resources, including dealing with trauma, as well as programs for leadership for young adults. In Puerto Rico, those mental health and trauma resources are sorely needed.
The aftermath of any major disaster leaves serious, often painful, realities for the survivors. Many families are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs, their homes having been destroyed. Towns and businesses can recover and rebuild, but that recovery effort can often be slow, and many will never be completely restored. As a result, people and their families suffer a loss of livelihood and the support that their communities and social networks normally provide. With no money coming in, families become reliant on government or foreign aid and are left with a future of uncertainty. This ambiguity has an effect on the mental health of disaster survivors.
Puerto Rico’s Department of Health reported in February 2018 that from November 2017 through January 2018, the island’s crisis hotline accepted over three thousand calls from people affected by Hurricane Maria, who had tried to commit suicide in the months following the disaster. Vox reported that that number was 246% higher than the rate of suicide crisis calls from the same time in 2016. As a result of the hurricane, health specialists — including mental health specialists — have seen a dramatic upswing in the number of Puerto Ricans looking for help with depression, stress and anxiety, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), all conditions that had their roots in the hurricane’s rampant destruction. Some even have survivor’s guilt, having survived when close family and friends have not.
Finding ways to cope with the stress and anxiety that suffuses sleepless nights while rebuilding, can help bolster — but not cure, mental health issues after disasters like Hurricane Maria. This is where libraries can come in. Not only can libraries help connect survivors with specialists and mental health services or programs, but they can offer a positive place for those affected by the disaster to talk to each other, something that has been suggested as beneficial for people with trauma. Children, who need to talk about their own trauma, see libraries as a safe space to open up about their experiences. The Julian E. Blanco School of Ballet brought students into the library periodically during school days, and encouraged their students to not only talk about their lives before and after the storm, but also to write their experiences down as a way to work through their trauma and start to heal. Reading especially, can be a way to distract adults and children from the stress of what is going on around them.
Places that were affected by the storm included the Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico — three of which were totally wiped out by the storm. As important parts of local communities, many of the Boys and Girls Clubs opened their doors and acted as shelters, meeting points, and community hubs; and became a huge part of the disaster response.
In order to help, the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA), is partnering with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico for this year’s 9th Anniversary of the Accio Books! Campaign!!! If you want to help bring back libraries in Puerto Rico, this year’s campaign is centered around getting donations of both English and Spanish books for brand new lending libraries in multiple sites of the Boys and Girls across Puerto Rico. To learn more about the campaign and get involved, visit www.thehpalliance.org/accio_books!
Anna is the Mental Health Researcher for the Harry Potter Alliance, a huge fan of peanut butter, radio dramas, and dreams of travelling to Iceland.
