Little Free Libraries are popping up all over Oakland County and the Clarkston community can enjoy two added to downtown thanks to Girl Scout Troop 13363.
The troop, comprised of incoming Clarkston Junior High School freshmen Lauren Dombrowski, Emily Herrmann, Hannah Music, Elizabeth Scheil, Bailey Schroeder, Nadia Smith, Olivia Thomas and Julia Walker, created two Little Free Libraries for Depot Park and the northwest corner of Main and Washington streets for their Silver Award Project.
Herrmann explained her mom, Jennifer, one of the troop leaders, was doing research last year for ideas for the project and came across the idea of the Little Free Library.
“She saw them popping up and said this would be a good idea to do for our silver award. We all agreed,” Emily added.
“We thought it was cool and thought we could do it in our town,” Music said.
The Little Free Library is a box full of books. Anyone can stop by to pick up a book as well as drop off a book to share.
The troop received approval from the city council last September and spent time in the winter and early spring putting it together.
“It was a really good learning experience,” said Thomas. “We learned how to be handy with tools and paint and how to work together. It was a lot of fun to work with each other.”
‘A lot of dads helped us learn about the tools and helped us put on doors,” Emily added. “They put on the signing.”
Dombrowski said it was really fun to work on the poject with her troop.
“We got together most Saturdays and spent a lot of time together,” she smiled. “We learned a lot about each other. We bonded.”
The troop also had a book drive so the libraries would be ready to go and be filled with books. They chose Depot Park because it is a popular spot not just for children but adults, too.
“Main Street because we have the Union Woodshop, the Union and a lot of cute shops,” said Emily. “Plus, we wanted a bench and a cute garden. We scouted out places and found this one. The Clarkston Cultural Arts helped us by giving us approval to put it in the garden.”
They put the Little Free Libraries in on June 11 and found it was an immediate hit with the community.
“So many people came the first day it was put up so we started bringing more of our own books,” Music explained.
She added she was happy about the response because she wasn’t sure how it would turn out.
“I drive through this part of town and I always see someone here,” she smiled. “It is really cool to see people using it.”
Music added she and the troop also stop by to straighten the books, check to see if there are new ones and also talk to the people using the library.
“It’s really cool because what we did made an impact on the community,” Dombrowski added.
“I think it’s cool to notice our work we put into it has paid off and people in the community are benefitting from what we did,” Thomas smiled.
Emily added it is a lot more popular than she expected.
“It’s huge,” she said. “In this library, on Main Street, I don’t think any of those books are the books we put in there. Those are just from people who heard about it which is great.”
The project earned all eight of the Girl Scouts their Silver Award.’The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest award a Cadette can earn. It represents a girl’s accomplishments in Girl Scouting and in her community as she grows and works to improve her life and the lives of others.
The first four requirements of the Girl Scout Silver Award helps the girls build skills, explore careers, gain leadership skills, and make a commitment to self-improvement.
“It made me proud,” Music said about receiving her silver award.
“Because of all the time we put into it,” Dombrowski added.
“It was worth it,” Herrmann smiled.
The Little Free Libraries accepts donations 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“The girls plan to do a book drive this summer for those of you who’d like to make a generous donation out of your book collections,” Jennifer said, adding if anyone has questions to email clarkstonLFL@gmail.com or visit them on Facebook – DepotparkLFL. For more information, visit www.littlefreelibrary.org.