By Shannon McFarlin News Director
Paris, Tenn.–The Little Library is back at the Atkins-Porter Recreation Center and it’s even bigger and sturdier than before.
The original Little Library endured a lot of wear and tear over the years–with wind, snow and kids hanging on the doors–but it was a car running over it that finally destroyed it a few months ago.
The new Little Library is an Eagle Scout project for Taylor Thomas, a senior at Henry County High School, who was contracted by the Atkins-Porter Neighborhood Association for the job.
What that means is that Eagle Scouts are responsible for the Little Library, Little Food Pantry, recycling bin and Dog Pantry, all of which are located at the entrance of the A-P Dog Park.
The Food Pantry was made by Liam McDevitt, with the recycling bin made by his brother Riley and the dog pantry was made by Fisher Lawrence. All of the four–Taylor, the McDevitts and Lawrence–are all members of Boy Scout 28 in Paris, which has performed several community projects over the years.
At a formal presentation Thursday, Thomas said he built the new Little Library to last. “Everything I did, I did it to last”, he said. The Little Library is double the size of the original Little Library, with plexiglass doors, big hinges and big handles.
Julie Leach of the AP Neighborhood Association said the best thing was that Thomas came in under budget with the project. And he worked fast–finishing the project in just three weeks from the time he began.
The AP Association paid for the project and Thomas worked with sketches made by Association members. “We had some ideas on how we wanted to improve it. We wanted ample doors, we wanted it to be made good and sturdy,” Leach said.
Taylor is the son of Andy and Mandy Thomas. His father can attest to the popularity of the Little Library. He said, “We brought some books with us when we were here installing the Library and when we came back a couple days later, those books were gone and other books had been donated already.”
Matt Hayes of the Boy Scout 28 said Thomas will be presenting a formal presentation about the project in order to achieve Eagle Scout status and that should occur yet this spring.
Photo: Taylor, at left, with AP Neighborhood Association representatives Kathy Collins, Julie Leach, Annettee Douglas, and Susan Jones, along with Ja’Marla and Ja’Keem Threatt who were happy with the books they received. (Shannon McFarlin photo).