Charlottetown library opens 'comfort cabinet' stocked with everyday essentials

The Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty and Rotary Club of Charlottetown have a long history of funding initiatives in the community.

Both clubs meet weekly at the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre, and earlier this year decided to look at their own meeting space as a place where they could help make a difference.

"We have a committee called community outreach and we meet at the library, so we thought we should ask the library if there was a need," said Debbie Phillips, a volunteer with the Rotary Club of Charlottetown Royalty.

It didn't take long before librarian Beth Clinton helped the group come up with the idea for a "comfort cabinet."

"With the popularity of different food pantries in the province, we sort of came up with this idea," said Clinton. "[Of] doing not food but comfort things or hygiene items, so like toothpaste, toothbrushes, that sort of thing."

Clinton says the idea wasn't hers alone, but rather borrowed from other libraries that have started similar projects.

So, the comfort cabinet was born. The cabinet can be accessed by anyone who comes into the space, whether they have a library card or not.

"With libraries being a more open place, it's very non-judgmental," Clinton said. "Because you could be in the library for any reason, you don't have to be coming in just for that."

Phillips made the initial purchases for the caring cabinet. She started with basics like soap and shampoo, socks, and diapers.

"I found some great deals," she said. "I was clearing the shelves at certain stores."

Once the cabinet was set up, in a quiet hallway toward the back of the library, the Rotarians got a sense of what was most needed.

"I picked everything that I thought people might need and then let the library tell me what the popular items were," Phillips said.

Clinton says the library always knew there was a need in the community, and it meets the library's goal of offering not just reading material but helping those in need.

"We are no longer in any way just books," she said. "We love lending books, but we have become much more of a community gathering space, a community hub.