photo by Rhett Bentley and Celia Heard
photo by Rhett Bentley and Celia Heard
photo by Rhett Bentley and Celia Heard
photo by Rhett Bentley and Celia Heard
photo by Rhett Bentley and Celia Heard
Southern Lit Alliance welcomed 21 energetic volunteers to Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute to clean and update the library on Tuesday.
The team worked from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. discarding moldy books, scrubbing bookshelves,
and discarding out of date resources such as cassette tapes. By the end of the day, the remaining books were categorized, alphabetized, and placed back on the shelves. All discarded books will be taken to McKay’s for purchase or recycling.
"The volunteer day resulted in an orderly space that is now ready to accept new and updated inventory," organizers said.
Serving 52 counties in East Tennessee, Moccasin Bend provides quality psychiatric services to individuals with severe and persistent mental illness. With over 150 adult psychiatric beds and 4 psychiatric care units, Moccasin Bend takes patients on a voluntary and involuntary basis. The staff promotes recovery and healthy reintegration back into the community.
Johnny Payne, adjunctive therapist at MBMHI, said, "The MBMHI Library has long served as an important treatment tool for patients. Access to modern information resources presents an opportunity for mental health patients to develop healthy life habits, receive career training, inspiration from story, and escape from difficult life experiences. However, the current library houses a collection of resources which are mostly out of date, not of interest to patients, and disorganized. This holds the library back from functioning as a productive treatment tool for patients. With the help of our community, our patients will regain this valuable treatment tool for treatment and life success.”
Beginning on July 19, Southern Lit Alliance will accept gently used books to refill the shelves at the Moccasin Bend library. Desired subjects include poetry, young adult fiction, the classics, therapeutic reads (i.e. Chicken Soup for the Soul series). A full “wish list” of books is outlined on So Lit’s website.
Nonfiction books must not be older than 5 years. Any books with broken spines, torn pages, and mold will not be accepted.
To assist with the book drive, local indie bookseller Star Line Books will coordinate a patron challenge to purchase at least 25 books for MBMHI. If the goal of 25 is met, Star Line Books will match the donation.
"This is an excellent opportunity to support a great cause and Chattanooga’s independent bookseller," organizers said.
Book donations may be delivered to Southern Lit Alliance on the second floor of the Arts Building, 301 E. 11th St. in Chattanooga.
In addition to updating the inventory, So Lit and the Chattanooga Public Library will advise MBMHI as they implement a sustainable plan for library organization and plan for a future technology training lab.
For more information about the Revitalibrary project at MBMHI and other So Lit programs, visit www.SouthernLitAlliance.org.