Monica Fry Gold Award Project - Farmers Branch, TX
N 32° 56.000 W 096° 52.522
14S E 698641 N 3645898
Monica Fry managed the Gold Award project that yielded two Little Free Libraries in her home town of Farmers Branch, TX, in order to help those less fortunate than the rest of us.
Waymark Code: WM12640
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/08/2020
Views: 3
Monica's page at Linkedin (see below) provides a blurb, which suggests that her project had its start in 2015:
I was doing volunteer work for my Girl Scout Gold Award Project. I managed the resources, planned the dates, and recruited volunteers. I was required to spend 80 hours on the project for a specific issue. I built two little free libraries inside in the City of Farmers Branch to give less fortunate families the chance of read books more often.
There is a reference to her Gold Award in a 2017 column in the Dallas Morning News (see gallery), indicating the location of her two Little Free Libraries. They stand in Farmers Branch Historical Park and in Rawhide Park (coordinates used for this waymark) behind the Farmers Branch Manske Library. There is nothing at either site to suggest that these are the work of the Girl Scouts, although their respective entries at the Little Free Library website note that they were "installed as a Gold Medal Girl Scout project".
The Little Free Library in Farmers Branch Historical Park stands in Mary's Garden, behind the park office. Mary's Garden is a memorial to Mary Alice Graul, who was with us only for about eight years from 1961 to 1969, when she contracted Reye's Syndrome and passed away. It stands on an unfinished wooden post, and is itself made of wood, painted light yellow, with a sloped roof. Note the "bird hole" in the back, with the bird silhouette, as the Little Free Library was designed to look like a birdhouse to match the theme of Mary's Garden. The Little Free Library plaque is in a strange place, between the main body and where the top of the door connects to it, but the door closes just fine.
The Little Free Library in Rawhide Park stands on an unfinished wooden post, and is itself made of wood, painted brown -- it sure looks like the khaki of a Brownies uniform -- with a sloped roof made of a modern roofing shingle. There's nothing fancy about it, and it could use a little bit of TLC. The paint is peeling a bit on the front, and the future leaders of America like to plant their chewing gum on one side, even when there's a trash can just feet away.