White Oak readers benefit from Eagle Scout project

Danny Klimek is shown with his Eagle Scout award certificate and badges next to one of the Little Free Libraries he built for White Oak.
Jim Busch / For the Mon Valley Independent

By JIM BUSCH
For the Mon Valley Independent
White Oak residents may have noticed the colorful boxes that have been popping up around the borough.
These boxes, which look like large birdhouses, are part of the Little Free Library movement that has been spreading across the U.S.
Passersby are encouraged to take a book for their enjoyment and, if they’d like, leave one for their neighbors to enjoy.
The Little Free Library movement began in 2009 as a do-it-yourself project.
Todd Bols built a replica of an old-time, one-room school house and filled it with books as a tribute to his mother, a teacher who loved to read.
He mounted the first Little Library on a pole placed in his Hudson, Wis. lawn.
Bols neighbors loved the idea and he built several more as gifts.
Rick Brooks, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Madison saw one of the libraries and felt that the idea offered great social merit. He contacted Bols and a movement was born.
Inspired by Pittsburgh’s Andrew Carnegie, the two men set an ambitious goal for themselves.
At the turn of the 20th century Carnegie funded the construction of 2,508 libraries around the globe. Bols and Brooks wanted to match Carnegie’s achievement on a somewhat smaller scale by the end of 2013.
Aided by an online grassroots network and the attention of the national media, the movement built momentum quickly and the 2,508th Little Library was installed in August 2012, a year and a half ahead of schedule.
Though Todd Bols passed away in October 2018, the movement he started in his home workshop has continued to grow. Today there are more than 80,000 Little Libraries in 90 countries.
White Oak residents can thank Eagle Scout Danny Klimek for the borough’s Little Libraries.
Klimek, 17, needed to complete a public service project to earn his Eagle Scout rank. He approached White Oak borough and was told about the Little Library program. Klimek researched the libraries and began raising funds for the necessary materials. Using plans downloaded from the internet and with help from his father, Klimek built six Little Libraries for the borough.
The project from start to installation of the libraries required six months of hard work.
Klimek had no trouble finding locations for his Little Libraries.
Local businesses and officials were happy to provide space for them. The concrete bases which hold the boxes weigh several hundred pounds each, so installing them required a bit of muscle.
The borough provided the initial supply of books for the libraries.
Going forward it is hoped that the libraries will be self-sustaining as residents are encouraged to leave their gently used books in the boxes.
The boxes are located at the borough building, White Oak Regional Park, at the entrance of the Giant Eagle in Oak Park Mall, at Patti’s Pasticceria on Lincoln Way, at Veltre’s Pizza at the corner of Ohio and State streets and at the picnic shelter in Heritage Hills Park.
Because of the nature of the Little Libraries, the books in each box is constantly changing and contains a variety of different genres.
A spot check of the Little Library at Oak Park Mall found several romance novels, a number of mysteries, a western adventure story, an epic novel about Asia and a nonfiction book on child rearing. Dedicated readers will find new authors and genres to add to their favorites and will be able to get an idea of what their neighbors are reading.
Klimek was awarded his Eagle award at a Boy Scout Court of Honor on Feb. 25. He plans to enter the building trades after graduating from Elizabeth Forward High School this spring.
Thanks to his efforts the readers of White Oak will never have to worry about not having something to read.