Island Lake Girl Scouts build Little Free Libraries for town
An Island Lake Girl Scout troop has built what could be the town's first Little Free Library and donated the book-filled box to village hall.
Members of Girl Scout Troop No. 1063 are working on a second book station to be installed at a local park.
The finished Little Free Library has been installed outside village hall, 3720 Greenleaf Ave. A blue-and-white box on a wooden post, it's between a post office box and a Wauconda Area Library book drop.
The troop's number is on the front of the box.
The book exchange's launch was publicly announced during Thursday night's village board meeting.
Village Clerk Georgine Cooper is especially excited about the little library.
"It says that we value reading," said Cooper, a former language arts teacher. "I love that people still read books. I still sit with a book in my lap."
Little Free Libraries operate on something of an honor system.
No library cards or payments are needed to remove a book, nor is there an expectation that books be returned. People are encouraged to take books - but not to empty the boxes maliciously - and to donate community-appropriate material.
More than 90,000 Little Free Libraries in 91 countries have been registered with the nonprofit group that launched the hobby.
Suburban Little Free Libraries can be found in Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Elgin, Hawthorn Woods, Mundelein and many other communities - but none are registered in Island Lake.
The Island Lake Girl Scouts designed and built their libraries with help from the staff at a Home Depot store in Crystal Lake, troop leader Magen Robison said. The store donated all the materials, too.
The second box is structurally completed but needs to be painted and treated with a waterproof finish, Robison said.
Trustee Will Ziegler was impressed with the girls' work. He said the station at village hall "looks amazing."
Little Free Libraries are important "considering all of the technological distractions we face nowadays," Ziegler said.
To locate the Little Free Library nearest you, use the interactive map at littlefreelibrary.org/ourmap/.