New ‘Little Libraries’ have sprouted up around the area, with one recently installed at the Becker Athletic Fields (BAC) and another one in Becker Twp.

The Little Libraries were the brainchild of Girl Scouts Megan Swanson, Gabby Artman and Delaney Varney. 

The Scouts, who belong to Becker Troop 698, began the Little Libraries to help them obtain their Girl Scout Silver Award, which requires a community service project. Little Libraries contain books that anyone passing by can take to read or leave one behind for someone else to read. The libraries are similar to a self-serve kiosk, which makes them available 24/7 all year around.

The project was chosen after the girls realized there were a lot of kids in rural areas that might not have access to libraries. After researching the issue, they discovered kids who don’t read proficiently by third grade are three times more likely to drop out of high school, and children in homes without books can be up to three years behind their peers academically. 

One of the most successful ways to improve reading achievement is to increase kids’ access to books, and that’s where the idea of Little Libraries came in.

Although they worked as a team, each of the girls was in charge of her own library, including finding a location, obtaining permission for installation, and design and building.

Artman led the recent installation of the Little Library located at Eagles Landing, 175th St. Becker, and Varney was in charge of the Little Library at the BAC, where she partnered with Becker Parks and Rec.

The trio’s first Little Library, which was led by Swanson, was installed at Palmer Park in June. The library has been going well and has proven to be popular, with the girls recently adding a note to remind people to return their books when they’re done reading them after finding it empty a few times.

Swanson, Artman and Varney invite everyone to stop by and enjoy the books offered by their Little Libraries.