From time to time, MUSICare Project conducts our own projects or supports efforts to help others. This page features our current project.
Current Project: Children’s book collection
From now through May 3, we are collecting new or gently used children’s books and middle-grade books, along with new or gently used tote bags (like reusable grocery bags, etc.). These will be transported to North Carolina and given to the 21st Century Packhorse Librarians.
Who are we helping?
The 21st Century Packhorse Librarians were formed in October 2024 in the aftermath of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene. Following in the footsteps of the Depression-Era Packhorse Librarians, these modern-day Librarians collect and distribute books to people who lost so much during the widespread destruction of flooding and landslides caused by the storm. Read more about the Librarians here!
How Can I Help?
There are two ways to help:
1–Donate books or tote bags: We are collecting children’s books (picture books, board books, etc.) in new or gently used condition. There is also a special need for middle-grade books–chapter books, nonfiction, graphic novels, etc., also in new or gently used condition. We will also collect new or gently used tote bags so families can take their new books home more easily. Donations can be dropped off in our Pittston classroom or in the collection bin at Long Live Playtime between now and May 3.
2–Join us for our special Storytime Singalong! This event will be held on April 23 at 5:30 in the party room at Long Live Playtime. The cost of admission per child is one new children’s or middle-grade book or at least two gently used books.
Where will our donations go?
All the books that are donated will be personally transported by our director, Janine Ungvarsky, to North Carolina on May 8. They will be handed off directly to the 21st Century Packhorse Librarian’s director, Kirsten Crawford Turner, for distribution to families on May 10 at an event called Joy on the Mountains Jubilee in Burnsville, North Carolina. The area experienced damage described as “catastrophic” during the storm. Hundreds are expected to gather for a day of free food, entertainment, games, and activities, and to get free books.
Why this project?
The work of the 21st Century Packhorse Librarians has deep meaning for Miss Janine. She was 11 when she experienced the devastation of Hurricane Agnes right here in the Wyoming Valley. Her family home had more than 42 inches of water on the second floor, and her family lost nearly everything except some clothes and the house itself. She remembers like it was yesterday how deeply upsetting and confusing the aftermath of that disaster was, and knows that’s what the children of North Carolina are feeling now. And she knows the spark of hope that came when someone gave her a pre-loved book, something that was just for her when all her other belongings were gone. Miss Janine read that book and reread it, and spent hours imagining new adventures for the characters in the book. That book was comfort, joy, peace, and hope in an otherwise very disorienting time. Miss Janine wants to bring those same restorative feelings to the children of another part of the Appalachians affected by another disaster, just as someone once did for her, and we’re inviting all of you to join us!