Little Free Library

Hello everyone. I am Tristan Diekman, the one who built this Little Free Library by Station 2 of the NAFD for my Eagle Scout service project. And this is a very long review, so get comfortable.nI would first like to tell you all how this happened. I've been involved with the community since I was young, one example being asking the village board in November of 2014 to put up a crosswalk at Willow Way and Oak Street, which is still there as of writing this. I've also been involved in Messenger Public Library, going there since I was very young, and volunteering there over the summer (except this year of course). So when it came to choosing my Eagle project, I wanted to do something for the community. So I talked with Messenger Library and they were wanting to put a Little Free Library on the west side of town, and there it was. My Eagle Scout project.nI took up the reins and started the project, There were two main parts to my project. The first part was book collecting. I collected 6,742 books from a lot of people, exceeding my goal of 4,000. The reason I collected so much was because I wanted Messenger to be able to keep the LFL stocked for a while. A combined 54 hours was spent just organizing the books. (That doesn't include driving and picking up the books.) My basement was cramped, for sure, until we were able to put all of the books in Messenger's storage space. Some books, like school textbooks, were unusable for the LFL, so we donated these to SCARCE, a non-profit that takes and distributes books of that nature. They're based in Addison, IL, if you want to check that out.nThe second part was building the Little Free Library, which was easier for me. One of the scout leaders in my troop offered some space in his garage, (my Boy Scout Troop is Troop 11 in Aurora) and with the help of some Scouts I built the LFL. (Messenger graciously gave us a gift card to Home Depot to buy the materials for it.) There were definitely some obstacles. One example of this was the door. I wanted the door to open to the side, but you'll notice that the overhang on the roof doesn't allow this. So we came up with the top-down door that is on the LFL now. On October 17 2020, myself, some Scouts, my parents, and Scout leaders all helped in digging the hole, pouring concrete, and putting in the post the LFL sits on. On the next day, October 18, 2020, at about 10:10 AM, the LFL was installed on top of the post, and it was complete. Taking everyone that participated, and the time taken to do all the work, a combined 208.83 hours was spent on the project. That's the story. I plan to officially get the Eagle Scout rank by the end of 2020, (one has to fill out paperwork and do a Board of Review, you know, boring stuff,) and go from there.nSecondly in this very long review, I'd like to thank some people. I'd like to thank my parents for helping and guiding me through this, especially my mother who helped me with the arduous task of collecting and organizing books. I'd like to thank Kirk Neuhaus, who lended not only his garage space but also his knowhow of construction to help me building the LFL. I'd like to thank all the Scouts, Scout leaders, and my friends that helped with this project in some way. I'd like to thank Messenger Library, and the team there led by Kevin Davis, for working with me and making this Boy Scout - Messenger Library collaboration work, especially during COVID-19. Finally, I'd like to thank the community for being so kind and welcoming to this project. I had plans for a photo op where I'd fill the LFL with books, but by that time people had already put books in! I was amazed by the outpouring of community support.nIn conclusion, that is my story, and I want you all to know that I'm happy, not only for the project (and the thousands of books out of the basement), but also the support this great town of North Aurora gave for it. This makes me have faith that even while we are divided on many things, we can still come together as one and do good in the world.nnThank you.nnSincerely,nnTristan Diekman