MONROE, Conn. — Patrons of Terra Cafe can now find a good book to read, or leave one, in The Tiny Duck Library to the left of the entrance to the eatery at Chuck’s Corner at 150 Main St., compliments of Junior Girl Scout Troop 34726 and Brownie Troop 34423. The girls installed the little free library on Thursday afternoon.
Joe Battagliotti, whose daughter Nina is in the Junior Troop, made the pieces to the library, which the girls assembled and painted. Linda Piddington, co-leader of the Monroe troops, said the scouts voted on the Behr paint colors. The library and roof is Wild Pansy, the cabinet door is Heavy Cream and the base is Beauty Queen.
Inside, the two shelves for books are covered with tiny resin ducks. “They love the ducks,” Piddington said.
On Thursday, the girls weighed down the little free library with stones and added flower decorations to the base.
“The Juniors and Brownies have always been about positivity and spreading joy and love in the community,” Piddington said.
Among the community projects the Juniors have been involved with over the past six years were coat drives, collections for the Monroe Food Pantry, bagged food for the “rise against hunger,” blessing bags for the homeless, blankets for the animal shelter, and gift basket donations with handwritten notes for patients in the nursery at Bridgeport Hospital.
“In their three years, the Brownie Troop has planted a garden to help the bees, written notes to children in hospitals, picked up trash around school, and developed a large pet food and supply drive for the animal shelter,” Piddington said of the younger girls’ projects.
The troops came up with the idea for the little free library project about three months ago, while holding discussions over several meetings.
“We were looking at pictures of community projects and they were all about it,” Piddington said of the choice to build a little free library.
The troops expressed gratitude to Battagliotti for his help with the build and Debra Cabral, owner of Terra Cafe, for allowing The Tiny Duck Library to find a home outside her coffee shop. “She’s excited for it to be here,” Piddington said. “The girls will check the box to make sure there are always ducks in there.”
The little free library also has a list of the girls’ names on the side.
Asked about their project, the scouts told The Sun how much fun it was to make the little free library, how everyone did their part and expressed their hope it will bring smiles to Monroe residents for generations to come.
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