#LibrariesAreEssential Case Study – Muirhouse Library Holiday Breakfast Club

Category: #LibrariesAreEssential, Blog, Case Studies

In this #LibrariesAreEssential series, we’ll be sharing case studies and contributions from key figures that demonstrate the vital value of Scotland’s libraries, now more than ever, as we look to a brighter future post-pandemic. For details of how to submit your own case study, please click here.

Muirhouse Library Holiday Breakfast Club

Case study kindly submitted by Tony Stewart, Lifelong Learning Library Development Leader

‘Muirhouse library is a hub for young people, especially during the holidays and many of our younger users will be with us from opening to close. The Holiday Breakfast Club was set up in 2019 to help ease the growing issue of holiday hunger which is a major issue within our community which is in the lowest levels of all categories on the SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation). Initially starting with a weekly Saturday Breakfast club in 2018, we were able to provide a range of healthy breakfast foods, cereals, fresh fruit, snacks, fresh juices, teas & coffees and show a movie on our big screen for free. We quickly saw how beneficial the club was based on the uptake, not just in younger members but with families and older people also taking part, even if it was just a coffee and biscuit. Due to this popularity, we wanted to expand the scope of what we could provide, so through partnership with Robertsons, a development group working in the area, and the local housing association who helped to provide funding, we launched the Holiday Breakfast Club as a daily service over the Easter Holidays of 2019. This continued in each of the school holidays for that year, running all the way up to the closing of the library in March 2020 due to Covid-19. The benefits of a healthy breakfast are well documented, but from a first hand point of view, library staff could see the change in mood, behaviour and engagement with activities in the children taking part in the breakfast club.’

‘For many children in our community, the library is a second home, the staff and I want them and the rest of the community to flourish. In providing a good start to the day we can help in a small way, then we are doing something right.’