Children’s Mental Health Month is an opportunity to put a spotlight on children’s emotional health needs and resources that support their resilience and recovery. Half of all mental health disorders begin by the age of 14 but are often undetected and untreated (World Health Organization). Increasing mental health literacy among children, youth and their families can help promote positive mental health and help-seeking behavior.
Many public libraries across the state have volunteered to participate in the SC Children’s Mental Health Month Literacy Campaign by curating displays in their branches or on the websites. These displays consist of books related to various challenges that can impact children emotionally, such as grief and loss, anxiety, bullying, etc. Reading these books with younger children and encouraging teens to read books related to these topics can provide them with hope and a road map for working through life’s challenges and difficult feelings. There are also some educational materials about children’s mental health topics available at the branches that are open.
A big thank you to the participating branches for helping to normalize thinking, reading and talking about feelings! We would also like to the thank the South Carolina State Library for its support of the campaign! We believe that proactively creating opportunities for children and youth to talk about how they are feeling sets the stage for them to ask for help when they need it.
Please see below for the list of participating branches.
Abbeville County Library Headquarters Edgefield County Public Library SC State Library
Aiken County Public Library Fort Mill Public Library Seneca Library
Anderson Main Library George H Seago, Jr Library Society Hill Library
Andrews Library Georgetown Main Library Southern Georgetown Library
Bamberg County Public Library Hartsville Memorial Library Spartanburg County Libraries
Barnwell County Public Library Jennie J McMahan Library St. Helena Branch
Bluffton Branch Lake Wylie Public Library Sumter Library Downtown
Calhoun County Library Main Branch Lamar Library The Bookmobile
Captain Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library Marion Main Library Union County Carnegie Library
Carvers Bay Library Nancy Carson Library Waccamaw Neck Library
Clover Public Library Orangeburg Library Walhalla Library
Darlington Library Salem Library Westminster Library
York County Main Library York County Library