A new brightly-colored little free library has popped up in downtown Boone.
Local high school students made it with kids in the community to replace those that were damaged by Hurricane Helene.
Lily Thompson, 17, remembers when Helene hit, just under two years ago.
“Where I live in Valle Crucis, we had no way out," she said. "There's like five different exits, and they were all washed away, so we were kind of stuck.”
When she was finally able to get out and walk around, she noticed one of the little libraries in her neighborhood was gone.
That was how she and her friend, Sophie Parker, two avid readers, came up with a community service project idea for their Interact Club. It’s called “Books Around the Block.” They won a $500 grant and got council approval to build little libraries and install them around town.
Parker says they want to encourage young people to develop a love of reading, like they have. Both girls, and some of their friends, read the same books together and dedicate whole group chats to discussing them.
“You know, you learn so much," Parker said. "You learn creativity and imagination, critical thinking skills. It's just an all-around important skill to have.”
And they thought, what better way to get kids to engage with the libraries than to help create them?
They set up art supplies at a picnic table at a local recreation center, and encouraged kids to stop by and help paint the walls of the little library. Soon, the wooden pieces were covered in neon flowers, hearts, rainbows, animals and swirls.
And it turns out, the kids at the table loved reading already.
"Have you guys read Magic Tree House?" Thompson asked the group.
Several immediately exclaimed that they had, and that they read every day.
Thompson and Parker installed their first little library outside of the Jones House Cultural Center in downtown Boone.
It didn’t take long for passersby to fill its empty shelves, taking old books and leaving new ones to share. And it’s no wonder. After a devastating storm like Helene, this community has gotten good at giving back to one another.