Girl Scouts from Troop 2009 of St. Andrew's Catholic Church and Del. Tim Hugo cut the ribbon during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Little Free Library in Clifton. Photo by Steve Hibbard.
To earn their Silver Award, Girl Scouts from Troop 2009 of St. Andrew's Catholic Church in Clifton built the Little Free Library, a small green birdhouse-looking box, which will be displayed in front of the Clifton Community Meeting Hall on Chapel Road. From now on, members of the Clifton community will be allowed to check-out free books at any time. On Saturday, May 20, they held their ribbon-cutting ceremony with local dignitaries, including state Del. Tim Hugo (R-40th) and Mayor Bill Hollaway.
"They wanted to have a lasting impact on their community and they loved to read, so they decided on the Little Free Library," said Carolyn Machado, Girl Scout Leader of Troop 2009. "All of the books are donated; you take out the books and return them here, so the library is always turning over books."
On the opening day, the library had about 100 donated books that promote reading and literature. The five Girl Scouts worked on the project since last May 2016, to get it up and running. Anyone in the Clifton community can drop off books at the free library. And for those who donated books on Saturday, Peterson's Ice Cream Depot gave away coupons for free ice cream.
Hugo added: "I am so proud of Girl Scout Troop 2009 as they present Clifton with this Little Free Library and earn their Silver Award. These girls have demonstrated a true commitment and interest in their town and are the future leaders of our community."
Clifton Mayor Hollaway said the Scouts had to go through a number of governmental steps to get approvals, including from the Clifton Town Council, the Architectural Review Board, and the Planning Commission. "With this whole project, it's been under discussion for four months. What a great learning process for the girls to go through," he said.
Also on hand for the event were book authors R. David Fulcher of Ashburn, who wrote "The Cemetery of Hearts" and author Ed Ehlers of Clifton who wrote "Lily and Lucy, An Easter Story."