Laredo's 1st Little Free Library

When Girl Scouts Kiara Carrillo and Lauresther Medina-Jimenez from Troop 9171 were looking for project to earn their Silver Award they quickly focused on literacy! Inspired by their most recent badge work “Woodworker” and after doing their research, they decided to build a Little Free Library for their community. Carrillo and Ms. Medina-Jimenez selected Laredo’s North Central Park as the location for this project. Little Free Libraries are an international movement! Since 2009 over 20,000 libraries have been established around the world. These libraries aim to make books available to people of all ages, to promote literacy and to inspire a community to have good reading habits - especially reading for pleasure. Little Free Libraries are free book exchanges where anyone may take a book or return a book to share with others. There are no rules or late fees. Everyone can take part! It’s all about connecting with your neighbors and community. Carrillo’s and Ms. Medina’s hope to teach the community how a Little Library works and hope the community learns to use it and care for it. They also hope their project inspires others to start their own Little Free Libraries in their own neighborhoods. Medina-Jimenez held a Book Drive among their sister Girl Scout troops and these books will be the first to be place in the Little Free Library. The projected expense was $150.00 which they raised through fundraising at public events. The Library is registered with its own charter number and will be identified in a virtual map of Little Free Libraries around the world