The Maine State Library is spending nearly $13,000 in taxpayer funds to create a toolkit meant for “caregivers” to teach children about “climate change and climate action.”

According to a contract document published Monday by the Maine Department of Administrative and Financial Services (DAFS), the Maine State Library will pay $12,775 to the Tennessee-based company The Healing Library to create the climate change toolkit.

“Working as a Content Creator and Project Manager, The Healing Library will create a kit of resources alongside other project stakeholders for families to discuss climate change and climate action,” the document reads.

“This kit will utilize Social Emotional Learning core competencies and Every Child Ready to Read strategies,” it states.

The grant to The Healing Library was issued as a no-bid contract, meaning there was no competitive bidding process by which the company was selected to be the recipient of the taxpayer funds.

“Working with The Healing Library will greatly reduce the number of staff hours spent on this project as [Maine State Library] staff would be learning to do this kind of project from scratch,” the contract document states. “[Maine State Library] staff will only need to oversee and approve the work.”

The Healing Library has published educational toolkits for children on a variety of other topics, including on COVID-19, “mindfulness,” separation and divorce, and the death of a loved one or pet.

One of the “Kit Contributors” employed at The Healing Library is David Moorhead, a children’s librarian at the Lewiston Public Library.