BROOKINGS – A local partnership between a Girl Scout troop and Altrusa International has resulted in a little library being installed in Sexauer Park.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 40002 – Alexis Knobloch, seventh grade, and Emma Spence and Carly Begalka, eighth grade – were looking for a project to complete their Silver Award, troop leader Amber Prussman said.

The top Girl Scout Award is the Gold Award, equivalent to the Boy Scouts Eagle Rank. The Silver Award is the top award to be earned by a Girl Scout Cadette in sixth, seventh or eighth grades.

The Silver Award requires 40-50 hours working on a project for the community and a “Cadette Journey,” where the girls earn badges on a focus subject, Prussman said. 

“Around that same time, our club was looking at Make a Difference Day (Oct. 28), and we were looking for a joint project,” said Victoria Larson, president of Altrusa International of Brookings. 

She contacted Prussman, and the subject of a little library came up.

Prussman and the girls had seen the libraries in surrounding towns, so they were familiar with the idea.

“The girls are pretty avid book readers,” so their interest was piqued, Prussman said. 

Larson said her co-worker’s son, John Stirling II, made a Free Little Library for Virginia Schlimmer of Volga and that’s how she learned about them.

“At Altrusa, our focus is literacy and community service, and the Girl Scouts really fit our mission. And the little library fit our mission, so we thought doing a joint project would work well,” Larson said.

Altrusa donated $200 to help with the cost of construction.

“Our whole group is just so excited about this project,” Larson said, adding Altrusa has a lot of older members. “It’s especially exciting for our members because of that, getting to work with the girls and getting to watch what they’re doing.”

The troop found a pattern on Pinterest, and Prussman’s dad, Garry Prussman and uncle, Myron Prussman, helped with cutting the wood.

“The rest was completely assembled by these three girls,” she said of her troop.

The girls assembled the pieces, drilled them together, painted it, used a level and hammer, put on the door with a plexiglass front, and put on the roof. The troop also purchased a plaque from Brookings Engraving, Amber Prussman said.

“They all had to do equal parts to earn the awards,” she said.

In addition to the Silver Award, the girls earned a woodworking badge, which requires the Cadettes to create something out of wood.

It was Spence’s first time doing construction, but Knobloch had helped her grandpa and Begalka had helped her dad before.

“I helped take nails out of a board, helped hammer and stuff. I never got to work the drill (before),” Knobloch said. “If you don’t know how to do it, if it’s your first time, yeah, it’s gonna be tricky.”

“My dad helps people fix houses. And I go help him hang drywall, mud and tape, drill,” Begalka said. “My dad calls me his sidekick.”

Spence didn’t think she’d like to tackle a project like this again, but both Knobloch and Begalka said they’d do it.

“I was happy to have it done because we haven’t done a really big project like this. It gave me more time to think about what we’ve done instead of just thinking what can we do next,” Knobloch said.

“This was our first project from start to finish of this magnitude,” Prussman said.

“It’s a very impressive project for three people to do,” Larson said.

The blue-painted little library was installed in Sexauer Park on Oct. 16 by workers from the Brookings Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department, Prussman said. The location was suggested by the city workers because there’s a campground there. 

“We thought if anyone there would be bored … if they wanted to not be bored, they could read,” Knobloch said.

The city workers confirmed it was the first little library in any of the city’s parks – and as far as any of them knows, it’s the first little library in Brookings.

“I think it’s a great location and leaves us open for future plans for future parks in years to come,” Prussman said.  

In order to stock the little library they’ve built, the girls have been collecting books, both through a book drive and donations from private individuals, other Girl Scout troops, and the Brookings Public Library. 

“We have four boxfuls, so far,” Prussman said, adding they are a mix of children’s and adult books.

The girls stocked the little library on Oct. 20 and plan to keep collecting books through drop-off boxes at Choco Latte, Peace Lutheran Church and at the little library itself, which is on a “take one, leave one” basis.

“We’d like it to be where people can take the books or drop off the books (they don’t want),” Prussman said.

The group hopes their little library will help those who may not have access to books. 

“Some people, they like reading, but they don’t really have a lot of books, so they might want to look at this and then if they would like a book, then they can have one,” Knobloch said.

“For some children, this is an opportunity for them to have their own book. It’s good to know they can pick up a book and keep it for their own,” Larson said.

They also wish others would follow their example and put together their own little libraries and spread the joy of reading.

“It really pays off when you see how many people that might look at this and say that’s pretty cool,” Knobloch said. 

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.