Community-minded students from the Builders Club at Joan MacQueen Middle School gathered at the stone tables in Boulder Oaks Community Park on March 30 prior to unveil their latest service project: Alpine’s first Little Free Library.
The library is essentially a large box with a clear window, mounted like a mailbox, with a secure door to keep out the elements while allowing community members to access the books inside.
The Little Free Library program is a book sharing program, with over 80,000 boxes worldwide where people can take a book, leave a book, or just stop by and read a book.
Shortly before filling the Little Free library for the first time with books for all ages, Builders Club Officers dedicated the new installation to the current and future children of Alpine.
Builders Club president Kaley Wilson, 13, spoke to the children and families who gathered to watch the event.
“On this day, March 30, 2019, the Joan MacQueen Builders Club, sponsored by the Alpine Kiwanis, would like to dedicate this Little Free Library to the children of Alpine,” she said.
The Little Free Library at Boulder Oaks Community Park and activities at the dedication were a joint effort between the Builders Club and Alpine Kiwanis, according to Jennifer Bromma, Joan MacQueen teacher and club advisor.
“Builders Club of JMMS is sponsored by the Alpine Kiwanis and works each year to improve our community through service projects. Books were donated by teachers and students and have been waiting for a home for over a year. The students of Builders Club decided to donate a Little Free Library at the beginning of the school year. There were so many books donated that they decided to give free books to all of the kids that attend the Little Free Library Grand Opening,” Bromma said.
Louise Phipps, the Kiwanis advisor for the Builders Club and the Key Club at Granite Hills also expressed her excitement and pride about the launch of the Free Little Library.
“Not only are Builders Club members encouraging elementary and middle school students to increase the time they spend reading but also they’re learning at a young age the importance of community service. Talk about a win/win,” said Phipps.
In addition to dedicating the library to the community, the Builders Club provided related offerings: scattered on park tables were free books for budding readers to take home with them and a gift basket of books was up for raffle.
Bromma said she was able to assemble the raffle utilizing reward points from Scholastic book orders and that funds raised will help pay for the club to attend a Leadership workshop held at Disneyland in May.
