Kenton County Public Library has created a new collection of books to help children cope with tragedy.
Youth Collection Coordinator Lisa Clark worked with her colleagues to create the collection after they heard about the mass shooting in Louisville.
“It’s very important to not kind of ignore those and kind of talk to your child about it,” Clark said.
The collection is made up of a dozen books.
“A lot of the books from the list have been checked out or put on hold. Our community is using them and hopefully, it helps them,” she said. “A lot of these books are just kind of broadly about dealing with emotions, especially big emotions young kids may be feeling for the first time and don’t quite understand, especially when something scary happens.”
Clark added their libraries also have self-guided books on how to cope with tragedy for children who are in middle and high school.
“Books that are vetted and written by professionals I think give coping mechanisms and I think that’s the biggest thing you want the kids to have,” said 1N5 Founder and Executive Director Nancy Eigel-Miller.
Eigel-Miller emphasized the importance of asking open-ended questions.
“What are your questions? How are you feeling? Those kinds of open-ended questions, so they can express their emotions,” Eigel-Miller said.
She said it’s important to let your children know that there are people like the police who are out there taking care of the situation. For parents, she noted it’s important to reassure your children to let them know you will be there to answer their questions and keep them safe. If they’re still anxious, she says they might need additional help.
“If they’re really being triggered by it, maybe recommending that they go and talk to a therapist,” she said.
Clark said she has seen an increase in demand for books dealing with emotions and coping with trauma. She said a book can help children identify what emotions they are feeling.
“If you're happy this is what happiness looks like, if you’re sad this is what sadness looks like,” Clark said.
She also extended a hand to the libraries in Louisville.
“Once we made the list, we reached out to the Louisville Library because we knew they’d be overwhelmed and had a lot on their plate at that moment. So we sent the list to them and said if you need this, if this helps at all, feel free to use it for your community and they actually did,” she said.
Clark said if your library in Kenton County is out of the book you’re looking for, staff can check other locations to see if it’s available. She noted they have several other books available that talk about feelings for children to read.
