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   Two local Girl Scout Juniors from Troop 295, Kylara and MaKayla, earned their Bronze Award for creating a new collection of board games at Pine River Public Library this month.  The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest award for Junior Girl Scouts (grades 4-5), requiring girls to work in teams to identify a community issue, research it, and implement a “Take Action” project with a lasting impact. Kylara and MaKayla decided to focus on enhancing their community by making fun and engaging activities accessible so people could spend more meaningful time together in fun and safe ways. They came to the Pine River Library this past June and spoke with Branch Manager, Carol Christensen.  “They had a lot of really fun ideas for the library, like more life jackets and water toys. But we thought a collection of games would fit perfectly with the puzzle and magazine community exchange we already had”, said Christensen.

   The troop got the word out for donations. Christensen and library staff were delighted with the public response. “We got a flood of new and gently used board games, card games, trivia and more for a solid two weeks after the girls put up their social media post,” she said.  The Girl Scouts spent weeks sorting through the donations and creating labels for each game.

   In September, Troop 295 delivered a collection of 87 assorted board games for all ages and families.  Scrabble, Chess, Monopoly, Yahtzee, Clue, and Parcheesi are only a portion of the collection that’s available. Games include all their pieces and instructions that are needed to play. As part of the library’s community exchange collections, the games don’t require a library card and can be brought back to the library anytime. Or games can be played at the library using our public spaces or the meeting room. “If families or friends are looking for something to do, they can come to the library, reserve the meeting room and bring snacks and soft drinks for a few hours of fun. Libraries aren’t just for books anymore!”, Christensen said. “It was wonderful to have the Girl Scouts work on this library project. They did a great job!”

   Games are available now at Pine River Library. No library card is necessary and there are no due dates. The library will continue to accept donations of new or gently used games, as well as donations to our other collections and fundraising sales. Call 218-587-4639 or email [email protected] to reserve the meeting room free of charge.

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