Grande Prairie youth builds community library

“Since school has been closed Ryan has to come up with something to give back to the community. I tell my kids you should always give back to the community because one day, you’re going to need it,” said Wilmot-Hanes.

“There was a post on Facebook asking people to do these, ‘Little Mission Library’s’ from Grande Prairie. My son was like ‘Mom, that would be so cool for the little kids in front of our house, because some kids can only get books when they go to school and because they’re not in school, they don’t get any books because the library is closed.”

A Little Mission Library is the same concept as a community library. The purpose of these community libraries is to take a book and leave a book.

So, Ryan got to work and wrote up a letter to the City of Grande Prairie asking them to help him and get the library built. Last week, the City responded and had five different grants available for the ‘Little Mission Library’s’ project and one of the grants was for him.

Buffie says that Ryan was excited about the grant offered to him by the City of Grande Prairie. He would end up drawing up a design for the library and he and his dad would get the supplies and begin building his library, but there is a catch.

Ryan and his family build everything using recycled products. So, Ryan and his father got all of their building supplies from the recycling depot which kept costs down.

This means that Ryan’s Little Mission Library is constructed out of used wood pallets. He and his father also laid down some bricks around some wood chips and a tree to give the library a welcoming feel.

Since Ryan built his library using parts that he and his family didn’t have to pay much for he wants to use the grant money that the city gave him and give it to somebody else. This will ensure that somebody can build another library in the city.

“He (Ryan) would like them to take his money that they (the city) were going to give him for his grant and give it to another library. So instead of five libraries in GP, there can be six libraries in GP. Ryan’s going to tell the Grande Prairie organization that he would like them to find one more family to do this project on behalf of the community.” explained Buffie.

Right now, the family doesn’t know how much the grant is as it will be determined after the product is built and there is a receipt from the items purchased.

Buffie tells EverythingGP that she also posted on Facebook asking for people in the community to submit books to the library. She says it so far it has been met with great success.

The library is located in the Countryside South neighborhood and will be open for public use on Saturday.

Ryan went around his community, made cards, and put them into mailboxes to let residents know about the grand opening.

The books donated into the community library are also wiped down before they are put into the library itself, to help prevent any potential spread of COVID-19.

Buffie says she hopes that Ryan’s project can bring a smile to kids in the community.

“With the situation going on right now, we just wanted to make sure that every kid gets a book in their house.”

by Shane Clausing

Grande Prairie youth builds community library

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