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Local Girl Scouts encourage reading with book box
Girl Scout- box
Sarah Romo and Sarah Gordon, members of Girl Scout troop 3289, stand beside the Free Little Library that they built as part of the requirements for their Silver Award. - photo by Photo Contributed

Sarah Gordon and Sarah Romo, two members of Girl Scout troop 3289, are hoping to increase literacy in local youth by offering a Little Free Library.

The library boxes are a place where children can come and grab a book they are interested in reading, for free, and replace it with a book they have already read and think another would enjoy.

“I think it can connect people in the community,” said Gordon. “There are stickers you can download and print on the Little Library website where you can put messages on the inside of the book and say who had the book last and what you liked most about reading it.”

The library box is located at 3095 Silver Oak Court, in northeast Turlock.

“It promotes literacy in children and adults too because instead of having to go across town to the library, kids and adults can just walk by and pick up a book for free without having to go far,” said Gordon.

The Little Library's grand opening is set for Sunday and will include balloons, treats and neighborhood children experiencing the new library box and learning how it works.

Gordon and Romo recently completed their Silver Award within the Girl Scouts organization that required them to identify a problem and find a lasting solution to that problem. 

“This box will fit quite a few books, it depends on the size but we have probably about 20 or 30 books in there right now—all sizes,” said Gordon. “Our troop leader had them and they were donated from Turlock Library.”

The Little Free Library movement originated in Wisconsin in 2009 by Todd Bol whose motto was “Take a book, leave a book.”  His inspiration to build a library box came from his mother who was a retired school teacher and Andrew Carnegie’s support of free public libraries all over the world.

“I like doing projects like these because they help improve the town,” said Gordon. “I’m excited to see how it goes.”