By Narisa Lin
UW News Lab
Have you noticed the colorful book houses scattered around Federal Way’s parks? Or even picked up a book yourself? These are the collaborative works of Girl Scout Troop 41688 for its Silver Award Project.
The cadettes worked in pairs and built six book houses. They placed one of each in Steel Lake Park, Town Square Park, Dash Point Highlands Neighborhood Park, Madrona Neighborhood Park, Saghalie Park and Celebration Park.
The cadettes are Hanna Banks, Emma McCann, Alyssa Cleveland, Mia Rapp, Lexi Schwarz, Skye Moser, Emilie Haedt, Abby Marshall, Halle Banks and Mikayla Reedy. Their troop is led by Catherine Banks and Lisa McCann.
The Silver Award is the second highest award in Girl Scouting, and one of the requirements is to identify a project that impacts the community, Catherine Banks said. After various discussions and lengthy research over two years, the girls decided to work together on the project because they had the same goals.
“The way we were thinking about it was coloring your community, making it a brighter place to live in, but we incorporated an education-take with it,” Emilie said, adding they wanted people to learn new things and provide them with access to books.
The troop searched for inspiration mainly on Pinterest and designed and modified the book houses numerous times until they were satisfied.
The girls spent 67 hours on the project, including a massive book drive.
“We all had to gather a lot of different books individually, and we ended up with 600 books among all of us,” said Emma. They collected both adult and children’s books. They made sure to place children’s books on the bottom so it was easier for kids to reach, Abby said.
Lending libraries revolve around the concept “take a book, give a book,” where people are encouraged to share books back into the community. The project emphasized sustainability. The girls invested in materials that they hope will prolong the life of the book houses. The houses were painted with waterproof paint and featured waterproof seals, galvanized metal and magnetized doors.
Other than materials, the troop considered other elements to ensure the project will be successful, such as foot traffic, safety of the houses and location. The girls came up with a list of parks that would allow their book houses to receive the most visibility.
The locations are also one of the reasons that their book houses are so distinct. They are more accessible and easier to find than book houses that are tucked into neighborhoods, Abby said.
However, their journey was not smooth. The troop encountered various challenges, especially while building the houses.
“I think building was the hardest because we were all so tired, and the weather was really cold,” Lexi said.
It took about three hours to dig the holes at Celebration Park because the ground was filled with gravel and was frozen. They even had to move to a different spot because there were pipes underneath.
The girls’ hard work made a noticeable impact, as they were recognized at the Federal Way City Council meeting on April 17 by Mayor Jim Ferrell.
He told a little anecdote about his family outing at Town Square Park. He told the girls that he thought their book houses “just looked absolutely beautiful and fun.” He also handed out a certificate to each girl to acknowledge the work.
Jason Gerwen, Federal Way’s parks and facilities manager, who worked closely with the troop, said people are excited for the little libraries and think they are a creative addition to the community. He said there were occasions where a book house was fully stocked on Friday and by Monday was empty, especially at Town Square and Celebration parks.
The Parks Department is taking that as a good sign and is asking for more book donations because the rate of people borrowing the books is faster than the rate of people returning them, Gerwen said.
The troop has submitted its paperwork to the Girl Scouts for the award. The next step is to get the book houses registered on littlefreelibraries.org in hopes of gaining more exposure.
Narisa Lin is a student in the University of Washington News Lab program.
Built by Alyssa Cleveland and Mia Rapp, this finished book house is at Town Square Park. Six lending libraries were installed at parks in Federal Way by members of Girl Scout Troop 41688. Courtesy Catherine Banks
From left, Mia Rapp, Alyssa Cleveland, Hanna Banks and Halle Banks mix cement and stabilize the pole for the book house. Courtesy Catherine Banks From left, Mia Rapp, Alyssa Cleveland, Hanna Banks and Halle Banks mix cement and stabilize the pole for the book house. Courtesy Catherine Banks
