The Little Free Library outside the Old Greenbelt Theatre’s new Screening Room had been removed due to an unstable support structure. Girl Scout Troop 27 decided they wanted to help. For their Silver Award project, they worked together to create a new Little Free Library to replace the old one.
At first, the plan was to renovate an old cabinet from a second-hand shop like Community Forklift, but the troop was not successful in locating anything appropriate. That did not stop them from moving forward with this project. They got to work downloading blueprints and finding scrap wood to build the Little Free Library from scratch. After a few very dusty meetings, the library was complete. The troop built the library almost entirely out of a stash of supplies donated by a troop member’s mother, who was happy to help and felt justified in her tendency to save unwanted or unused items. The troop would also like to thank Jim and Gail Drake for the use of some of their power tools.
The troop did not want to just leave an empty wooden box under an awning. What is a library without books? So they headed down to the Labor Day Festival and collected some books from the Greenbelt Elementary School PTA book drive. The troop focused on children’s books as they had observed that the Little Free Libraries around town were in need of books that younger children could read.
The final part of the project involved creating a map of the locations of other Little Free Libraries in the community. The map is on the web at bit.ly/3LP24rl. In each Little Free Library on the map, there is a QR code that directs the visitor to the website. The hope is to see an increase in the use of the Little Free Libraries in the area.
Troop 27 encourages everyone to visit a Little Free Library nearby, borrow a book and, after reading it, find another Little Free Library via the map and leave it for others in a new spot.
For those curious about these libraries, or who have books to add to the collection, feel free to stop by and take a look or leave a book – that’s what it’s built for, after all.