TROY, NY — A line full of parents and students formed outside the Troy Public Library Tuesday morning for the library’s second annual school supply drive.

After collecting donations for over a month, Carol Roberts, director of youth services, said they received even more donations than last year. Through the event at the main branch on 2nd Street and the Lansingburgh branch, they collected 203 backpacks and enough supplies for 296 students, she said.

“People look to us to offer help,” Roberts said. “This is a way for us to spread the message while connecting with the people who need us most.”

Virginia Wescott, director of sales, and Roberts are co-leading the project, which was started after recognizing demand during the more informal fundraising drive in 2022. With increasing support from the community and continued need for the supplies, Roberts said she is confident they will do the project again.

It depends on the time of day and the items donated, but the backpacks for grades K-12 are typically filled with all the supplies a student needs for an entire school year, she said, from graph paper to No. 2 pencils. Those long lists of supplies can add up for families, she said, and they usually run out quickly.

Troy’s statistics show that many students qualify for reduced or free lunches. An estimate from the National Retail Federation puts the cost of lunch for preschool through high school students at $874 per child in 2024. Roberts said they are excited to be able to help close that gap.

With the increased donations, the library also gained two new financial sponsors: the New York State Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust and the Rensselaer County Re-entry Task Force. Roberts said she hopes the two brand new sponsors are a sign of more to come as the years go by.

The Rensselaer County Re-entry Task Force has partnered with the library for several years, sponsoring the school supply drive for the first time. The program works to reduce barriers for those being released from correctional facilities, helping them find jobs, find support services, and apply for benefits such as SNAP and Medicaid, as well as other programs.

Heidi Renaud, probation reintegration coordinator for the Rensselaer County District Attorney’s Office, said several of her clients had already stopped by the raffle just 10 minutes after the event began at 11 a.m.

The library is a safe place, she said, and sometimes they meet their clients there instead of in their office in the courthouse next door. The library is neutral and does not bring with it any of the bad memories or fears that the courthouse may bring up in some people.

It’s a community space, she said, and Roberts agreed. The community is what made the school supply drive possible in the first place, and it’s been incredible to see the outpouring of support and donations, she said.

Tuesday was no small feat either. In addition to handing out supplies, they also helped students sign up for library cards, gave parents information about all the free programs and museum passes, and provided snacks and chalk for the kids to draw on the sidewalk outside.

Roberts said she was concerned about viewership because filming of “The Gilded Age” closed 2nd Street in the blocks surrounding the library. Thankfully, many people walked or took the bus, she said, but it still shows how much they need the materials.

This is also an important service provided by the library and part of its work to support the community, she said. Next to her, in tents with balloons in the corners, students grabbed new backpacks and immediately slung them over their shoulders.

“This is imperative,” Roberts said. “We are an important part of the community, we really are a community center.”