Eight rural Central Texas libraries are expanding their role as community mental health hubs through the Libraries for Health initiative, a pilot program funded by the St. David’s Foundation since 2021. Participating libraries in Smithville, Taylor, Elgin, Martindale, San Marcos, Buda, Del Valle, and Jarrell are offering programming like chair yoga, grief groups, and peer support services to address gaps in rural mental health access. According to Abena Asante, senior program officer at the St. David’s Foundation, a community health needs assessment showed insufficient mental health support across the five Central Texas counties the organization covers, with rural communities facing compounded challenges due to shortages of mental health providers, transportation barriers, and other obstacles.
Peer Support and Community Assets
Libraries emerged as natural access points for mental health support because most communities already rely on them as trusted resources. Smithville Public Library Director Judy Bergeron notes that for some patrons, the library is the only place with access to computers and the internet, and serves visitors dealing with social security benefits, veterans’ services, addiction recovery, and housing insecurity. The Libraries for Health program provided grants allowing libraries to fund resources like yoga classes, mental health books, and peer support specialists—individuals with lived experience in mental health and addiction who can build trust and help patrons navigate resources. Britany Khan Flores, Smithville’s peer support specialist, said her own experience with addiction and mental health challenges helps her identify with patrons and share strategies without positioning herself as an authority figure.
TaKisha Moore, an expert on the peer support model who oversaw the specialists through the end of 2025, noted that non-clinical peer support is uniquely effective in rural communities. Residents often feel more comfortable speaking with a regular person than with therapists or psychiatrists, creating “a low-staticky way to meet people where they are, with the least amount of friction and pushback to support and help.”
Expanding Library Roles
Jarrell Community Library’s director Susan Gregurek rebranded the facility to “Jarrell Community Library and Resource Center” after witnessing the impact of peer support specialists working with young families, seniors, veterans, American Sign Language speakers, and people dealing with grief, anxiety, and depression. The library has expanded partnerships with organizations like Foundation Communities and AGE of Central Texas to provide assistance with benefits enrollment and financial literacy programs. The original Libraries for Health pilot ended in 2025, but the St. David’s Foundation extended additional funding to give libraries a runway to find sustainable funding by the end of 2026. The program’s public toolkit has been downloaded over 1,000 times as interest spreads beyond Central Texas.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.kut.org/health/2026-03-16/central-tx-rural-libraries-mental-health-smithville-jarrell