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A program that provides free menstrual products in Calgary Public Library washrooms is expanding to all of the library’s 21 branches.
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That’s after a $100,000 donation from the Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health, which officials say will help combat “period poverty” in Calgary, making pads and tampons more accessible to those who can’t afford them.
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One-in-four women in Canada have had to choose between paying for menstrual products and other essentials such as food or rent, said Tracy Johnson, CEO of the Calgary Public Library Foundation.
“The library, although a spectacular lender of books, is so much more. The library is a pillar of access in our community,” Johnson said.
“This partnership will empower menstruators across Calgary by delivering the dignity and respect that they are entitled to.”
The Tuesday announcement is an expansion of the Free. Period. pilot, which began in 2021, bringing free period products to six libraries and several other public buildings in Calgary.
It’s been entirely donor-funded since its inception, with benefactors footing the cost of $31.50 to stock a single dispenser for a day.
Those dispensers are set up in washrooms, and feature artwork created by three Calgary youth.
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Calgary Coun. Kourtney Penner celebrated the expansion during the Tuesday announcement at the Central Library, and thanked the members of the Mayor’s Youth Council who championed the program.
“For youth who may be challenged, whose parents may be working, they’re often left to their own devices to access those products that they’re desperately needing,” Penner said.
“We also have people who are in other unfortunate situations, and for youth to recognize that this is a program that can steward and take care of other people in our city, free of stigma, free of barriers, is truly the compassion we need to lead us forward.”
Penner said the location of some libraries next to schools — such as the Shawnessy Library neighbouring Bishop O’Byrne High School in the city’s southeast — is another benefit of the broadened program.
jherring@postmedia.com
Twitter: @jasonfherring
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