Sonoma Valley Girl Scouts honored for Little Free Library project

The Girl Scouts in Sonoma Valley’s Troop 10404 learned how to operate power tools and the basics of construction as they built a Little Free Library on the campus of Dunbar Elementary School.

Their work earned them a Bronze Award, an honor bestowed on fourth- and fifth-grade scouts for working together to complete a project that benefits the community.

“The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can achieve,” said troop co-leader Amy Seyms in an email. “Through the project, in which each girl had to log 20 hours of service, they learned leadership, how to work with people in their community, and built confidence as they developed new skills.”

The project was supported by a $100 donation of materials from Friedman’s Home Improvement, and Greg Stevenson and David Seyms helped teach the scouts about the building process and using tools.

The troop members include ChloeAnne Coffey, Kaila Seyms, Isla Bennett, Iyana Manzo, Hannah Stevenson, Violet Larbre and Mitali Sriram. The Girl Scouts attend Prestwood Elementary, Kenwood Elementary, St. Francis Solano and River Montessori schools.

The first Free Little Library was recorded in Wisconsin in 2009, when Todd Bol built a small tribute to his mother, a teacher who loved to read. The trend took off so quickly, the name Free Little Library was established in 2010, and now included a nonprofit to build more “take a book, leave a book” libraries in communities all across the planet. By 2011, there were 400 Free Little Libraries registered in America, but by 2022 that number grew to 150,000 in more than 115 countries, according to littlefreelibrary.org