By Melissa Wagoner
When 11-year-old Girl Scout Moira MacDonald learned that the Scotts Mills Grange was interested
in the addition of a Little Free Library she felt called to action.
“We went on a website and looked at starter kits,” Moira said, recalling that, while she and her mother, Meredith, had initially looked into either building or repurposing a library themselves, no internet-sourced plans looked quite as water-tight as those from the Little Free Library site.
“So, we decided just to buy one,” Moira said.
But with a $350 price tag, she had to earn the money first.
“I collected cans and used some of the cookie money I earned,” Moira, who has been a member of Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington for nearly seven years, said. “Then I put the shelves in and put the plaques on and one of the neighbors helped with the post.”
She also designed the decorations including a llama, a dedication to her late grandfather – avid reader, John MacDonald – and her favorite quote, a line from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship,” Moira said, reciting the line from memory. “I really like the book and it’s one of the best quotes because it says keep going.”
Initially earning Moira the highest Junior Girl Scout honor, the Bronze Award for community service, the Little Free Library has continued to serve the members of the Grange, where it is located,
as well as the greater Scotts Mills community, which is nearly eight miles from the nearest bookstore or public library.
“And with gas prices it would cost so much to drive into town,” Meredith pointed out. “So, for the growing kids and the families who homeschool and don’t have access to the school library, it’s especially nice.”
And Moira intends to keep it that way, through continued care and stewardship of both the library and its books.
“We clean it out and make sure there aren’t too many of one author,” Moira said. When she opens the door to find the library has been in use, she feels really proud.
“I hope that people continue to use it and that it’s helpful to people,” she said.
