Fill the Need - a New Library in Glencoe

 When she saw a gaping need in her community, Leah Bradford took it upon herself to fix it.  Her determination to establish a library in Glencoe not only brought a community asset to the city, but helped Bradford earn her Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting.

Her project began when she decided the city needed a library.

Bradford said people of Glencoe were supportive of her efforts to get project off the ground. There were some setbacks, but those proved to only make Bradford work harder toward her goal.

“My personality is very persistent,” Bradford said. “I guess I don’t take no for an answer.”

Bradford worked to raise money for the library at Glencoe’s Celebration in the Park and used the funds to buy some shelves. She said a local store also donated funds for shelves, which she said she and her father built.

The library also has about 3,000 books, all donated by people in the area. Bradford said more donated books are in storage; the library doesn’t yet have room for them. Bradford said all the adults involved in the project helped, but let her do the work, including her project manager, Amanda Jackson, and Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama Gadsden Program Manager Beth Gable, whom Bradford said was there for her with emotional support.

 

“You have such a support system behind you when you try to do something like this,” Bradford said of the Girl Scouts.

Bradford said she put over 200 hours — more than double the required 80 hours for the Gold Award — of her time into creating the library.

(Excerpted from the GSUSA blog )

The article didn't say specifically, but I hope that Leah had a great team to lead!  That she used a club from school, or her soccer team, or a neighborhood association of kids to educate about the need.  I also hope that she went beyond collecting books, and also helped with reading hours, literacy programs and other reading needs that exist in her community.   These additional pieces would truly have made this an outstanding Gold Award Project!