Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library

Free School Supply Shop at Westerly Library gives local students a chance to stock their backpacks without spending a dollar as the new school year gets underway. Westerly Library & Wilcox Park is turning its Pop-Up at Coy into a temporary school-supply store from Tuesday, September 8, through Saturday, September 12, with everything in the shop available free to students.

Families can find backpacks, calculators, folders, lunchboxes, notebooks, markers, pencils, pens, rulers and other donated supplies. There is no purchase involved and no admission charge. The idea is simple: take the school supplies a student needs.

The shop runs from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 1 to 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

A Community School-Supply Drive Becomes a Free Store

The shelves at the Free School Supply Shop were filled by the community before students ever walked through the door.

Westerly Library began collecting new and gently used school supplies on August 3, placing donation bins near its entrances and inviting residents to contribute through September 8.

The library’s suggested donations covered many of the expenses families encounter at the beginning of a school year: backpacks and lunchboxes, calculators and rulers, folders and notebooks, along with everyday supplies such as pencils, pens and markers.

Instead of simply distributing prepacked bags, the library has taken a different approach.

The donations become inventory for a temporary shop where students can look through the available supplies and choose what they need.

That distinction may seem small, but it gives students and families some control over what they take home. A teenager who needs a calculator and notebooks isn’t necessarily looking for the same supplies as an elementary school student who needs markers, pencils and a lunchbox.

The library describes the shop as offering a variety of supplies free to any student.

Five Days to Stop In

The Free School Supply Shop isn’t limited to a single afternoon.

Westerly Library is opening it across five days with different hours to give families several opportunities to visit:

• Tuesday, September 8: 3–7 p.m.
• Wednesday, September 9: 3–7 p.m.
• Thursday, September 10: 3–7 p.m.
• Friday, September 11: 1–5 p.m.
• Saturday, September 12: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

That means families who can’t make an after-school weekday visit still have Friday afternoon and Saturday options.

Because the shop consists of donated items, selection will naturally depend on what the community contributed and what remains when a family visits. Anyone hoping for the widest selection should consider stopping in earlier in the week.

The Pop-Up at Coy Was Built for Ideas Like This

The school-supply shop isn’t taking over a conventional meeting room.

It’s happening in The Pop-Up at Coy, a small storefront-like space immediately inside the front of Westerly Library.

The room has had quite a few lives.

It originally served as the library’s reception office and was once the office of Sallie Coy, who joined the organization in 1911 and became the longest-serving librarian and library director in its history. Coy remained director until retiring in 1960.

Over the years, the space also served as the circulation desk and the Friends Bookstore. A 2017 renovation transformed it into a café.

Its latest incarnation deliberately moves away from having one permanent purpose.

Westerly Library now uses The Pop-Up at Coy as a temporary activation space where local organizations, small businesses, nonprofits, community resources and other projects can set up for limited periods. The library describes the concept as a way to give visitors opportunities to see, experience and learn about different community offerings.

For five days in September, its purpose couldn’t be much more practical: shelves of free supplies for students heading back to class.

More Than Books at Westerly Library

The school-supply project also fits the broader role Westerly Library has carved out for itself.

The library is operated by the private nonprofit Memorial and Library Association, which was established in 1892 to commemorate local volunteer soldiers and sailors who served in the Civil War.

Westerly Library opened in 1894 with about 5,000 volumes. The original building included considerably more than books, with a gymnasium, bowling alley, art gallery, museum and meeting space for the Grand Army of the Republic.

More than 130 years later, the idea of a library as a community space remains.

Today’s collection contains more than 287,000 items, while the building also houses public computers, meeting and programming spaces, youth areas, a Makerspace, the Hoxie Gallery and local history collections.

Programs range from children’s storytimes and craft sessions to technology instruction, support groups, book clubs and community-resource programs.

The Free School Supply Shop belongs to the latter category. It doesn’t require a class, lecture or workshop to be useful. It takes something families need and makes it available in a familiar public place.

And There’s a 15-Acre Park Outside

A trip to the school-supply shop can also include some time outdoors.

Westerly Library shares its downtown property with Wilcox Park, a 15-acre Victorian strolling park and arboretum.

The original park land was donated in 1898 by Harriet Wilcox in memory of her husband, Stephen Wilcox, the local industrialist and inventor who had earlier donated the land for the library and $25,000 toward its construction.

Harriet envisioned a park that could be enjoyed by the working people of Westerly and neighboring Pawcatuck.

Landscape architect Warren H. Manning, who had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted and later became a founding member of the American Society of Landscape Architects, designed the park while incorporating much of the site’s existing vegetation.

Today, Wilcox Park contains 159 different tree species and 43 cultivars, including seven recognized Rhode Island Champion Trees.

So a stop for notebooks and pencils doesn’t necessarily have to be an errand in and out of a building. The park is directly outside and remains open from dawn until 9 p.m.

Free Really Does Mean Free

There isn’t a complicated eligibility requirement buried in the description.

Westerly Library says the supplies are available free to any student.

There is no admission charge listed, no registration requirement and no requirement that families purchase anything else. The library’s event is categorized for families, adults, teens, tweens and children, reflecting the fact that school-supply needs don’t end after elementary school.

For families buying supplies for multiple children, or for anyone facing an unexpectedly expensive back-to-school list, even a few notebooks, folders, pens or a calculator can take something off the bill.

And because the inventory came from donations, the Free School Supply Shop turns one family’s extra backpack or unused package of pencils directly into something another student can use.

That’s community programming at its simplest.

Details

Event: Free School Supply Shop
Dates: Tuesday, September 8–Saturday, September 12, 2026
Tuesday–Thursday Hours: 3–7 p.m.
Friday Hours: 1–5 p.m.
Saturday Hours: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Admission: Free
Who Can Participate: School supplies are available free to any student
Registration: No registration listed
Available Supplies: Donated school supplies may include backpacks, calculators, folders, lunchboxes, markers, notebooks, pencils, pens and rulers; selection depends on availability
Location: The Pop-Up at Coy, Westerly Library & Wilcox Park
Address: 44 Broad Street, Westerly, RI 02891
Phone: 401-596-2877
Library Hours: Monday–Thursday 9 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed Sunday
Wilcox Park Hours: Daily from dawn–9 p.m.

More information is available at the Event Website link below.

 

Featured image is an artistic representation inspired by the event and may not depict the actual people, location, or activities shown.