Erin Corcoran earns 2018 Silver Award

With illiteracy being a huge problem in the United States, and the cutting back of local library hours, Erin learned that it was much harder for people to get to the library to check out books. She took action to make sure that people in her community would have access to books at any time! Collaborating with community members and securing supplies and books, she built five Little Libraries to put out around the community.

She even got kids to decorate one of the libraries during a children’s program that she and her troop ran at the Coastal Children’s Museum. Each library contained a sign, describing how they work, and encourages people to “take a book, leave a book,” hoping to keep the Little Libraries going for a long time.

One thing that Erin learned from her project is how important community collaboration is. When one of her libraries was vandalized, the community member reached out on Facebook to see if anyone could fix it. Another community member jumped in, helped fix it, and the library was back out by the next morning.

Erin, you should be proud of the work you’ve done, and proud of the collaboration you’ve inspired in others!