NORTH ADAMS -- Thanks to a group of local youth, free menstrual products are available at the North Adams Public Library.
Members of a teen art club at the library, and Holly Dix, the librarian who runs it, have worked for months to bring about two now-installed period product vending machines, which dispense pads and tampons for free. As Dix puts it, access to this health care is "a human right."
In addition to the vending machines, set up in two bathrooms at the library, are take-home period care kits, which include 10 tampons and 10 pads, an informational piece of paper, and a piece of chocolate for a pick-me-up.
Part of the project is an effort to raise awareness, and negate the stigma around discussing menstruation, particularly for young girls.
"A lot of girls are starting their periods very young now, we're talking girls in third or fourth grade starting them," Dix said. "You can imagine how scary that can be, especially if they don't even know what it is."
The vending machines, take-home bags and soon-to-come posters are a way to open up the conversation for young people.
"I have a daughter turning 13 next month, and we were talking about a scenario at school," Dix said. "She didn't even want to approach her friends to ask them for help because they haven't talked about it."
Dix's daughter, Rillie Burns, who turns 13 in a few weeks, said as much.
"Every time I need something, we don't have it," Burns said. "It's really cool to me that we can have this at the library, because we need it."
Burns said her friends are excited about the idea. At her school in Bennington, Vt., she has to go to the nurse or office to see if products are available.
Burns was encouraged when she and Dix went to Mass MoCA and found period care products in its bathroom for free. Dix notes that occasionally, bathrooms have machines that dispense products for 25 cents, or nothing at all.
Local News Can't afford menstrual pads and tampons? This Great Barrington nonprofit wants to help By Heather Bellow, The Berkshire Eagle 2 min to read
"She's been on board since Day 1, she and I put the machines up together," Dix said of her daughter. "She was embarrassed just a few months ago, now she doesn't care that I put her picture on Facebook standing next to a machine. It's opened her eyes so much."
Dix had been thinking about trying this idea for some time, and when she took action, she was pleased to find the library's trustees supportive.
The assistance of period.org, an organization that seeks to address "period poverty," or "the limited or inadequate access to menstrual products or menstrual health education," was essential, as it donated 1,000 tampons and 1,000 pads each.
The library has brought in vending machines from Aunt Flow, costing about $350 each, and an order of 500 pads and 500 tampons each from the company that cost about $1,000. Dix is confident the library will be willing to replace the supply once it runs out. And she's hopeful the project goes well so the trustees can be convinced to install more machines in its third-floor bathrooms next year.
In 2024, Axios reported that schools and jails in Massachusetts have begun to expand access to menstrual products.
Legislation known as the I AM Bill, which hasn't yet been passed by the Massachusetts legislature, would make all period products free in schools, shelters and jails. That push has been led by three eighth-grade students.
On June 18, the library's Youth Services Department is inviting kids aged 11-18 to come to the library at 6 p.m. to help assemble period care kits and make menstrual awareness posters.
It comes almost three weeks after World Menstruation Day, which was May 28.
Dix hopes more organizations will follow the library's lead and that "libraries and schools in the area that don't have them will get machines."