Eagle Scout adds Little Free Library to Hempfield demonstration garden, 2 other sites

Visitors to Hempfield’s Donohoe Center now can dip into a free book while birds and bees dip into nectar and pollen at the adjacent demonstration gardens.

The Penn State Extension Master Gardeners, in partnership with Ligonier Eagle Scout Jesse Glenn, recently unveiled a Little Free Library display next to the Children’s Pollinator Lane Garden outside the center.

It’s one of three library displays Glenn has created and installed at area garden sites, with help from other members of Boy Scout Troop 372, as part of his Eagle Scout project.

Part of an international program, the Little Free Library invites visitors to take a book that interests them and leave a book in return, if possible. To begin with, the Donohoe Center display will be stocked with books about horticulture, agriculture and the environment, but local Master Gardener coordinator Mandy Smith expects the reading material will broaden in topic as the library sees use.

Facing the front of the center, visitors will find the pollinator lane — which is still under development — to the right of the building.

“We want to engage children, and also their parents, to learn more about the different types of plants that are geared toward pollinators,” Smith said. “We really need to promote spaces for nectar, pollen and shelter for our native bees.”

To appeal to younger visitors, she said, the pollinator lane includes some whimsical touches, such as garden gnomes and a caterpillar figure formed with rocks. “We hope to increase educational signage next year,” she said.

A 2023 graduate of Ligonier Valley High School, Glenn, 18, is enrolled as a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, with his choice of major to be determined.

He became aware of the Little Free Library displays when he saw one during a visit to the Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve in Unity.

He said, “I thought that was a neat thing, and it kind of stuck with me” as he considered options for an Eagle Scout project.

The Westmoreland Pollinator Partners organization helped Glenn identify ideal locations for other library displays — including the nature center entrance at Powdermill Nature Reserve near Rector and the entrance to the child development program at the Ligonier Valley YMCA.

Packets of native plant seeds collected at the reserve also will be available seasonally at the Powdermill library.

While the garden at his family’s Ligonier Borough home includes the native pollinator-­friendly bee balm flower, Glenn learned much more from pollinator experts as he completed the library project.

“It was a very educational experience, talking with them about gardening and the ecosystem that’s required to keep the pollinators alive.” he said.

Adapting a blueprint he found online, Glenn cut the wooden pieces for each of the libraries with help from his father, Skip. He recruited fellow Scouts to help assemble the displays, each capable of holding 20 or more books, and finished them with cedar shingles to withstand exposure to the weather.

Maria Fetter, a 10th-grade student at Greater Latrobe Senior High and daughter of master gardener Karrie Fetter, painted a floral motif on the library at Donohoe Center.

Glenn said he hopes to complete another Little Free Library display in Greensburg that would be designed for easy use by those in wheelchairs.

Visit littlefreelibrary.org for more information about the library program and GPS coordinates for registered locations. The program has grown to about 150,000 locations in more than 100 countries.