ST. LOUIS – October is celebrated as National Book Month, a time to honor the country’s best books and authors and focus on the importance of reading, writing and literature.
One Maryland Heights Girl Scout, Nadine Bredell, used her passion for reading and community service to build a free little library to earn her Girl Scout Silver Award.
After researching lending libraries, design plans and woodworking, Bredell began sketching out and building her design using donated materials collected within her community. Bredell then painted her library and searched for the ideal location for her project. Once Bredell identified the site, she dug the hole and set the post. She also promoted her project and asked for donations by posting to social media and writing an article in her neighborhood newsletter. Bredell collected several boxes of books which she then sorted and filled her library. Bredell will continue to collect donations and stock her project, encouraging others to foster a love of reading as well.
“I love giving back to my community, and I think literacy is very important,” said Bredell. “I want people to have access to books like I did when I was their age. It’s a bonus that they get to keep the book and for some it might be their very first.”
The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Cadette, girls in 6th-8th grade can achieve, and requires girls to identify a need in their community and dedicate on average more than 50 hours towards addressing and solving the issue. When Girl Scout Cadettes focus on an issue they care about, learn the facts, and take action to make a difference, they gain the confidence and skills that catapult them to lifelong success.
We’re Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscoutsem.org.