I am the Teen Services Librarian at the Louisville Public Library in Louisville, CO. Our town, situated between Boulder and Denver, used to be known for its small town charm (I affectionately call it Colorado’s Stars Hollow). Now, this community has been made infamous by the devastating Marshall Fire that occurred on December 30, 2021.
My community has been absolutely devastated by this disaster. Over 1000 homes were lost, and many homes that weren’t destroyed are uninhabitable. Everyday I communicate with patrons who lost everything or are displaced, and even those whose homes are fine are feeling traumatized by what happened. I was in middle school when the Columbine shooting happened a mere 15 minutes from where I grew up, and this situation is the only comparable thing I can think of. Just as we were back then, we’re shocked, we’re grieving, and we’re a little lost.
It’s hard to know how best to serve my community. Does anyone care about Anime Club right now? Is my Take and Make a waste of time and energy? Does it seem frivolous? My day to day has not changed much, but other City employees have been tasked with working overtime helping to assess, remove debris, etc. It’s hard to feel like we’re doing enough at the library. I have heard from adult patrons who repeatedly say that the library is a sanctuary, and how wonderful it is to feel a sense of normalcy when walking through our doors. I take comfort in that. While teens have been reluctant to talk about what happened, my teen space is full again after school each day. It’s the busiest I’ve seen it since the COVID lockdown in 2020 in fact. At the library we like to say we’re the community’s living room, and my teen space is starting to feel that way again. I’m just doing my best to be welcoming, and taking things one day at a time.
This month at TSU, we were asked to write about our goals for the year. Mine are obviously looking very different than I originally expected. Instead of just focusing on continuing to rebuild teen services in the face of COVID, now, I’m also working to figure out my role in helping the teens in my community recover from this tragedy. If any of you have experience working in a community that’s experienced tragedy or a natural disaster, I’d love to hear from you. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Teen Services Underground 
15 responses to “Serving in the Wake of Community Tragedy”
I think you are doing exactly what you need to do right now. It seems that you all have become a safe space in your community, which is an amazing thing and can be so comforting. Have you thought about doing journaling or art therapy for your teens or even adults as a way to process what has happened? Most importantly remember you are doing your best and to take it one day at a time. You’ve got this!
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Those are awesome ideas! Thank you!!
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There is nothing more soothing than curling up with a good book. Maybe you could make some book boxes for your teens with a relaxing read and some tea and chocolate.
This might also be a great time to introduce a journaling group or a writing prompt group to allow teens to work through their feelings. But I think the most important thing is that you are there for your community with open doors and a comforting place to be.
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Those are great ideas! Thank you!
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This is a great idea! My community is in a mental health crisis where my teens are dealing with multiple suicides’ amongst classmates. I like this idea for them.
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Hey Jessica, thank you for your post reminding us that we have friends all over who are dealing with even more than just Covid fallout right now. I would love to help. I started a monthly Teen Service Program at our library in November that has been really popular. What could we do to help the teens in your community who are struggling through this aftermath? I’d love to put together some care packages with notes from our kids so they know they’re not alone and we’re thinking about them, but I don’t want to send things that they couldn’t/wouldn’t use or have already. What do you think might be helpful besides just solidarity from other teenagers?
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Thank you, that is so kind! Let me mull this over and get back to you. Right now we have found that many folks are still just trying to find temporary housing and they aren’t quite ready to accept donations of stuff yet. I think notes would be fantastic, and maybe new or gently used books? I could make a display with the notes or tuck them in to each book. Honestly, just the notes would be so awesome. Don’t feel the need to spend money on anything. You could also promote donating to the official fire recovery fund: https://www.commfound.org/
Feel free to email me at jschwartz at louisvilleco.gov and we can coordinate!
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I think it is amazing that you have a safe space for the teens as well as your adults. Go you!
I don’t have a ton of experience with this level of trauma, but the teens will open up eventually as you continue to give them the space. They may not trust their own feelings right now. But they will talk. Be there. It will come. And they will express it in different ways. Keep paper nearby so they have space to write or draw, might be good.
The take and makes may be a way for them to reground to a “normal” because life is anything but.
One idea, might be for other libraries to send cards to your teens to let them know they aren’t alone and people care. In a couple of weeks, I have a craft type of day for my teens. While my crew isn’t very big, I’d be fine with them making cards and sending them to you. I can talk to a couple of other of our teen librarians and get their groups in on it. If this is an idea you aren’t too sure about, just tell me and I won’t try to put it in place.
Figuring out the best way to support is hard. I’ll try to think of some more ideas.
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Those are good points. I love the idea of keeping writing/art supplies handy. I can definitely do that. I think cards are a great idea! I could make a cool display with them. Feel free to email me at jschwartz at louisvilleco.gov to coordinate.
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Hi there,
Thanks for sharing honestly about this. I’m so sorry you and your community are dealing with this. I grew up in Moore, Oklahoma, famous for its catastrophic tornadoes, and I was in high school and working at the local library when the last “big one” came through in 2013. From my experience, the best response that the library had was simply making itself available as much as possible. Your community will have different needs in its situation than anyone else might, and of course COVID complicates this even more, but simply keeping abreast of where to find resources (insurance information, local and federal assistance, health resources, even how to contact city departments if any of that has changed) will be a big help to anyone. And for teens specifically, I would anticipate that if Anime club already had a following, then those participants are going to look to that for a lot of things: for a place to get away from everything they are dealing with outside or for a place to safely process with different people who, at least on some level, really get it. It can also be a symbol of hope that things will keep going, even when it feels like they shouldn’t be able to.
In all the complexities and anxiety, just keep being there for them. Sometimes one of the biggest things you can do is be a presence that isn’t fake happy or falling apart. Consistency can be a big comfort.
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Thank you so much for sharing your insight. Adults have said they appreciate us just having our normal offerings, and I’m sure teens feel the same even if they have not said so.
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Sending so much love to your community and teens right now. By offering those Anime Nights or other in-house programming you’re probably giving those kids some relief by having something to attend instead of hanging out at the library just because they’re dealing with the trauma of what’s happened. You’re obviously giving them a space to go to that makes them feel safe if they keep coming back. Keep your chin up, your librarian family is proud of you!
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Thank you! That’s nice to hear!
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I’ve been to your beautiful library on vacation and I’m so sad to hear about Louisville! 😦
You have a wonderful community and the fact the library was not destroyed is some kind of sign. It’s the heartbeat of the city, now more than ever!
For your teens, give them a voice, give them an outlet. Consider some kind of writing/art project for them to tell their stories. Also, just find ways to let them be kids and have fun. Normalcy is definitely something that they’re craving.
Find some kind of mental health group or professionals who will come and do a talk about trauma/traumatic events, anxiety, depression, grief. Make sure your patrons know that their emotions to this tragedy are heard and valid and y’all will get through this together!
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Thank you! These are great suggestions. I’m working with a local teen group on a collecting stories, art, videos, etc. which feels great, and it definitely makes sense to offer some mental health support. We’re working with some other City groups to make that happen. Thanks for your support!
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