Oak Harbor Library Offers Memory-Care Kits for Dementia Patients, Caregivers

Requests from Oak Harbor residents pushed the city's library to act, and a Puget Sound Energy community grant gave it the means: the Oak Harbor Library is now lending memory-care kits to people living with dementia and the family members and caregivers supporting them.

Library manager Jane Lopez-Santillana said the decision to supply the kits followed repeated requests from community members. When a Puget Sound Energy grant arrived, dedicated to providing extra support in the community, the library directed the majority of those funds toward purchasing the kits.

Kate Matwychuck, a library associate who worked alongside Lopez-Santillana on research and implementation, described the kits as serving multiple functions. "The memory care kits have a variety of purposes," Matwychuck said. They support people with dementia through multi-sensory activities designed to stimulate memory and connection, she explained, while also giving caregivers practical information for caring for a loved one. The kits also point families to local resources available to those affected by dementia.

The program is not new to the Sno-Isle Libraries system. Both the Lake Stevens Library and the Sno-Isle Library on Wheels already offer memory kits. What sets each collection apart, however, is that unlike books, which circulate freely between branches, memory kits are location-specific and cannot be transferred between libraries. Oak Harbor's kits are tailored specifically to life on Whidbey Island, with content intended to spark recognition around farming, pets, and ball sports.

Island County residents now have access to a resource that caregivers in other Sno-Isle communities have relied on, built around the particular landscape, culture, and daily rhythms that Whidbey Islanders actually remember.