2020 has been a rough year for many of us. One of our sad moments last year at F.AVE was when a storm took down our beautiful Harry Potter themed Little Free Library that was a memorial to Mr. McKinnon, a past media clerk. We are planning to repair that library, but it could be a while because our carpenter needs to find the precious time.
When the library fell down, one of our former students who lives across the street noticed. Olivia Moellering Baratas is now a sophomore at DHS and was looking for a sophomore project. She contacted me asking if there was a way for her to repair the library that fell. Because that library was pretty complex, I knew that was going to be a really difficult challenge, so after talking to the other people involved in creating the original one, we asked Olivia to create a new library for us.
It was not an easy process for her. Because we were deep into figuring out virtual learning, the new LFL was not high on the priority list in the fall, so she learned so much about being patient and the difficulty of working with a committee. Ultimately, we decided on a design that would look like our physical school building and showcase our culture as a school. We are the F.AVE Falcons and we are an International Baccalaureate school as well. She came up with a perfect design and built the entire thing herself. The left box has the IB Learner Profile puzzle logo on it; the middle box looks like our main building, complete with our globe and craftsman windows; and the right box has a falcon on it. It's so perfect and reflects our school's values wonderfully!
The last hurdle was getting permission from our facilities to install the library, and it FINALLY happened this week. We are so impressed and proud of our new F.AVE themed library. I am in awe of the skill and dedication shown by Olivia. And we want to thank her father too, for helping dig the hole and place this new beautiful library. We will replace the plaque honoring Mr. McKinnon in the next few days and make sure that it is registered with the LFL organization.
We will place the Harry Potter library in another place on the grounds, never fear, so F.AVE will eventually have two LFLs. We hope the community enjoys our brand new gorgeous library. We know they will, because when I went out this morning to fill it with books, there were already tons of books in the boxes! And I hope that Olivia enjoys watching the excitement from her house across the street. She has made a lasting contribution to her community and her school. We are so grateful to her.