Brownie troop gets new library

Elle Newman, 9, center, receives books from Madison Smith, 9, to put them in the new "Little Free Library" on Monday at Cole County Park. The new book exchange has multiple shelves and can hold almost twice as many books as the original book exchange. Vandals burned the previous library down in January, but that didn't stop community members from coming together to rebuild.
Elle Newman, 9, center, receives books from Madison Smith, 9, to put them in the new "Little Free Library" on Monday at Cole County Park. The new book exchange has multiple shelves and can hold almost twice as many books as the original book exchange. Vandals burned the previous library down in January, but that didn't stop community members from coming together to rebuild.

Vandals burned a local library down to the ground in January, but that didn't stop community members from coming together to rebuild.

"These young girls don't need to remember that the rest of their lives," Harvey Buhr said of why he was moved by news coverage of the destruction of Girl Scout Brownie Troop 71459's "Little Free Library" to build a new one in its place at County Park just outside Jefferson City.

"The old one, the girls had their handprints on it," troop co-leader Stacy Jo Butler said of what was lost in the fire, along with all the books that were inside the old plastic library. The original book box, about the same size as a free real estate pamphlet box, had been dedicated April 12, 2017.

Butler said she and her daughter discovered the burnt remains of the original box Jan. 27. The person or people responsible for the fire have not been caught, she added.

The new library Buhr built is stainless steel - fire-resistant, to be sure, but too difficult a surface to redo the hand paint on, she said.

Though some things can't be replaced, community members have come together to rebuild and restock the bigger library, which the troop of eight girls from Lawson Elementary School - seven third-graders and one second-grader - rededicated and restocked Monday.

Buhr, of Bonnots Mill, is president of Industrial Enterprises Incorporated in Jefferson City. He sketched design options for the new library, and troop leader Lisa Cook picked the one she liked best.

IEI manufactured the library, Xtreme Body & Paint donated the exterior paint job, and Excalibur Signs & Decals donated the lettering, Buhr said.

Cole County maintenance workers have bolted the new library in place to the pavement beneath it, Butler said.

What's a library without books, though?

"You bring a book, you take a book," Butler said of the shared lending concept, noting the titles available are mostly for children.

Butler said the girls in the Brownie troop donated most of the original books, but this time Scholastic donated four boxes.

Heath Gavin - Scholastic's senior vice president of manufacturing, supply and inventory strategy - was at the rededication in the park and said co-worker Lori Massman - employee services community development manager - informed the company of the need to restock the new library.

Gavin told the troop Monday to let Scholastic know if the library ever needs to be restocked.