Minuteman High School carpentry students build book boxes for Little Free Library program in Needham

By Judy Bass

Needham residents are now participating in a local book exchange program, thanks in part to a group of carpentry students and their teachers from Minuteman High School in Lexington.

Sixteen Minuteman students, under the supervision of instructors Kyle Romano and Brian Ehle, built plywood and pine boxes to hold donated books. The boxes are permanently situated outdoors throughout Needham for youngsters and adults to choose volumes they like and leave others to replace them. Needham is one of Minuteman’s district communities.

The town’s book boxes and exchange are associated with the Little Free Library (LFL) program. According to the LFL web site, the program’s goal is “to promote literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide and to build a sense of community….” The LFL has more than 32,000 book exchanges globally.

This concept strongly appealed to Jeanne Carey of the Library Foundation of Needham (LFN), who heard about it from a LFN board member. Determined to get Needham involved, Carey approached town officials such as Economic Development Director Devra Bailin, Town Manager Kate Fitzpatrick and the Needham Board of Selectmen. She got the green light to proceed, and, funded by the LFN, the project was underway.

The boxes measure 30 inches all around and were painted by Needham High School graduate Rachel Vergara, with one more decorated by her mother, Lisa.

Signs identifying the book boxes came from Fast Signs in Needham. Some of the books are from the New England Mobile Book Fair. Doug Mangine, a Town of Needham employee who “planted” the boxes, is a Minuteman graduate.

The boxes were placed in areas where there is substantial foot and vehicular traffic. The first two, said Carey, were installed in the summer of 2014 at Avery Square and Greene’s Field. Two more were installed in the spring and summer of this year, one next to Needham Town Hall and another in Perry Park.

So far, the book exchange has been very successful, said Carey. “It’s a great community concept. It’s easy, accessible, and gives people a reason to go to a place to look for books.”

She also expressed her appreciation to Minuteman, an award-winning regional high school that provides students with a high-quality career and technical education, coupled with a thorough grounding in mathematics, English, science, and social studies. Students can select from more than one dozen career and technical education programs and a challenging academic curriculum, including Advanced Placement courses. Typically, more than 60 per cent of the school’s graduates pursue college or advanced technical training.

“I will be forever grateful to them for doing this,” Carey said. “I have absolutely positive things to say about the entire Minuteman High School. It’s such an awesome resource. It was a great experience working with them.”

The Minuteman carpentry students involved in this project were Kyler Davis (Brookline), Sam Farren (Lancaster), William Glynn (Arlington), Cole Kennedy (Weston), Marc Guerrero (Arlington), William Hardy (Acton), Shane King (Watertown), Patrick McSorley, Jr. (Needham), Hunter Mearls (Needham), Aidan Sands (Lexington), Jacob Svirsky (Needham), Haley Rice (Lexington), William Ritchie (Carlisle), Victoria Randolph (Arlington), Patrick Tobin (Wellesley) and Mark Vega (Lexington).