Mission High School Students Build Free Little Libraries for District and Community Mission, Texas - From the wood shop to the campus grounds, Mission High School construction students gain valuable woodworking skills through a little library project. The purpose of these libraries is to promote the love of reading by removing barriers to book access.
Agriculture & Construction Teacher, Benito Garza coordinated with the Director for Instructional Technology & Library Services, Marissa Saenz, on building these beautiful Little Libraries for the campuses and community.
“We were asked if we’d be willing to build some little library projects for the different Mission CISD schools and were excited to take the opportunity to do this community service project,” said Garza. “Throughout this project, the students were also able to get a lot of hands-on practice in using the different tools in the shop”.
The students took the challenge head-on. Once the materials arrived for the project, they didn’t waste any time getting the little library project up and running.
“We’ve set up somewhat of an assembly line here in the shop,” said Jamie Calderon, Senior at Mission High School. “My job is to measure out the plywood and cut it down to size. Once they are ready, the pieces move on to the next station where they get added to the roof of the libraries”.
Once they are painted and decorated, they will be installed in a safe location outside the campus to serve as a community library.
“These little libraries are built with a door on the front where the students can access the books that they like on the inside, and they can also leave books that other students may want,” said Calderon. “The idea is an honor system where students take a book and leave a book once they have finished reading it”.
These little libraries will begin arriving at campuses over the next two weeks, with deliveries being scheduled around the campus testing schedules.
“What I enjoy the most is seeing the students' reactions once they have completed a project,” said Garza. “They feel very proud of themselves and want people to see the work they built and accomplished.”
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