Little Free Library by Troop 1694

All of the girls in Troop 1694 love to read. As Brownies, one of their favorite community service projects was holding a book drive to collect books for homeless children. As Juniors, when they gathered to brainstorm Bronze Award projects, they excitedly decided to build a Little Free Library.

With a project in mind, the girls started researching. They took time during a troop meeting to walk to a Little Free Library that had already been built and installed.

“They talked about how the structured had to be designed to withstand the weather, to be waterproof to protect the books, to be easy for children and adults to open and to be aesthetically pleasing so that it would fit into the neighborhood,” Trish Jones, a co-leader of Troop 1694, said.

The girls then downloaded blueprints to build a Little Free Library and visited a Home Depot store, where members of the staff helped the girls construct the library. A few weeks later, they painted the structure. They chose yellow for the inside and navy blue for the outside to correlate with the school colors at The Williams School, where they planned to install the Little Free Library.

Next, the girls held a book drive, and they collected 150 books to fill the library.

The girls worked with the headmaster at The Williams School to choose the perfect location to install the library. They decided to put it near the school’s vegetable garden. In this location, students and their families, as well as members of the public walking down the sidewalk, can easily access the Little Free Library.

“Local support has been very positive,” Trish said. “Both the school community and the neighborhood community are excited about the Little Free Library.”

Members of the troop selected a week during each month to be responsible for maintaining the Little Free Library. They will check it, clean it, refill it and, if necessary, repair it, during their week of responsibility. The girls plan to maintain the Little Free Library for years to come in this way, and they will eventually pass along the maintenance to a younger Girl Scout troop.

“The girls learned that they can do anything that they want to do if they come up with a plan and put their minds to it,” Trish said. “We cannot wait to see what other positive things they will do in the future!”