In the wake of the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., a big-city library has come to the aid of a small-town one.
The Vancouver Public Library has supplied the Tumbler Ridge Public Library with a collection of books that help parents explain grief and loss to children.
Tumbler Ridge children’s librarian Sydney Doonan, spoke with Daybreak North’s Jason Peters about the collection.
“Them going through our catalogue was wonderful, because we know we have the books, but spending all that time digging when there’s other stuff that’s so immediate that needs to be done,” she said.
Additional books on grief are being sent through the mail to Tumbler Ridge on loan as the community needs.
LISTEN | Vancouver Public Library helps out Tumbler Ridge:
Doonan called the Vancouver Public Library for help going through their local catalogue, recognizing that her community was going to need resources available in the days ahead.
The fellow library sorted through their entire catalogue on their behalf, making a list of all the books related to grief and loss.
Doonan says that alone was a huge help, freeing up staff to focus on meeting other needs in the community, including offering space for children and youth.
“The kids want somewhere to be, and they want somewhere to hang out,” she said.
The Vancouver Public Library is not the only one coming to their aid, says Doonan. Publishers and authors have reached out to help supplement Tumbler Ridge’s shelves.
While the town is still grieving, Doonan says it didn’t take long for residents to come together and help one another. Meals were provided to library staff at no charge from a local restaurant as they worked to keep their building a place for youth to connect.
“Tumbler Ridge is a community of mountain people. And when things happen, we come together really tight and we really hold each other and love each other,” she said.
Grief comes in waves
Colette Smart is a clinical neuropsychologist and professor of psychology at the University of Victoria, who specializes in research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complex PTSD.
She says it’s wonderful to hear that residents are looking after one another, noting mass violence events like what happened in Tumbler Ridge are highly uncommon in Canada.
“I often use a metaphor of the ocean when I’m thinking of grief as these big waves that come in. So, we want to kind of cultivate a good shore to stand on, to deal with the grief when it crashes,” said Smart.
The community should remember to be self-compassionate as they move forward from the tragedy, she says, as many people may return to their initial grief as they recover.
“With a regular traumatic exposure, we talk about bouncing back to baseline,” she said. “But in this situation we’ve had a mass tragedy. So, where people may bounce back to is a place of normal grieving.”
Community ritual and routine are important as the town continues to grieve, adds Smart, noting that there may be basic needs that people help with, such as preparing a meal or looking after pets.
“Often people are just so mentally overwhelmed with stress and emotion that just even those day to day things can really make a big difference in terms of coping,” she said.
Doonan says the library hasn’t exactly been a quiet space, many kids have dropped in to watch the winter Olympics, play video games, or create arts and crafts.
“It has been a real silver lining to see how many community groups and individuals and even the teenagers, how much they want to help,” she said of local support.
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(CBC News)