Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Noting the absence of a brick and mortar library in their hometown of Selby, Cubs Abigail Chamberlain and Emma Bolton decided to do something about it.
With a little help from their parents, the 10-year-olds constructed their own little library out of wood, placing it at the end of Bolton’s driveway at 285 Brady Rd. Perched on a wooden pole is a cabinet that opens to reveal a two level book shelf full with books for all ages. Guests are now free to drop by and borrow a book or add one to the collection.
“We seen some around Napanee and thought they were cool so we wanted to bring one here,” said Bolton. “We have kids books and adult books and any books that we had laying around that we don’t use anymore we took out.”
The girls were very involved in the building process. Submitted photo.
Both girls say they are avid readers and wanted to do something that would encourage their peers to pick up a book. The project took about three days to complete and both say it was well worth the effort.
“The kids who are moving up to Scouts next year, they have the opportunity to do a community project and they get a special award for it,” explained Abigail’s mom Michelle. “They have to do something that will impact the community in a positive way so the kids come up with their own ideas and the Scouters kind of guide them and help them do it, but they plan it by themselves and then they build it. They review it with the pack and tell them the positives, negatives, what the challenges were and what they enjoyed about it and how it worked and how they made a good impact on the community.”
It made for a great learning experience with the net result being something that can be enjoyed by all ages.
Through a little hard work and imagination they’ve now done their part to give back to the community.