While driving with family on several vacations, Rhawnhurst youth Anita Myers noticed some wooden boxes on posts.
“I got curious about what they were,” she said.
They were Little Free Libraries.
According to www.littlefreelibrary.org, there are some 150,000 such libraries in more than 110 countries.
An avid reader, Anita checked out the website and app.
“I noticed there weren’t any libraries within 10 minutes of us,” she said. “I thought this was a really opportune time for us to do one. I thought it would be a fun project to build one ourselves.”
A 12-year-old who is about to enter seventh grade, she found a spot near the edge of the lawn of the family home on the 1900 block of Borbeck Ave.
Anita, the oldest of six children, worked with her dad, Jeff. The project took about a month and a half, starting with digging a 2-foot hole in the lawn to set the post, which wasn’t easy because a lack of rain made the ground hard.
The materials included plywood, pallet boards, Plexiglas and a piece of aluminum for the roof painted black, adding stars, planets and comets using spray paint art. Some of the materials were new, others used.
“We love repurposing things,” Jeff Myers said.
The three shelves of books, along with a DVD, came from the Myers house.
“The ones we’re finished with,” Anita said.
Now, anyone is welcome to come to Borbeck Avenue to check out a book from Anita’s Book Nook, which includes a small plaque with a Little Free Library charter number inscribed.
“I like how it turned out,” said Anita, who has texted her friends about the new library.
A bench is next to the library, and Anita is thinking of adding a hook to the library for a hanging flower basket. She might also include school supplies.
Anita has read fantasy and adventure books, but likes mysteries more. Her other interests include drawing, playing the guitar and jewelry-making. She’s also teaching herself French.
Jeff Myers said the project was a natural, as his kids are taught to use tools in a responsible way.
Rowan Myers, 11, is also a big reader, preferring mysteries and books on dogs. Tucker, 9½, reads graphic novels. Molly, 7, reads Disney and Geronimo Stilton mouse books. Henry, 4½, likes picture books on dogs and Star Wars. Lennox, 11 months old, is a future reader. ••
