Usually, neighbors BBQ together, go out for coffee or borrow a cup of sugar from each other, but for a couple of Aberdeen neighbors, they do much more together.

The Janker and Daniels families like to build things together.  In particular, Little Free Libraries.

“I read an article about the one in Southern Pines and wondered why we didn’t have one here at Aberdeen Lake. I got a little jealous,” Adriana Marques Janker jokingly said.

Little Free Libraries have been popping up across the nation in recent years. The idea is to foster a love of reading while strengthening communities. The public can take a book and leave a book.

Janker contacted Mrs. Barbara Allred, who is with the Friends of the Aberdeen Library, and Allred helped with the coordination of the town and parks & recreations permissions.

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Janker then collaborated with the Daniels and started the process of building one for the Aberdeen community.

“Adriana had come to me last month with the Little Library community project, and she was really excited about it. It seemed like the rest of the towns had their own Little Libraries but Aberdeen didn’t,” said Katie Daniels.

With the help of their husbands, all four neighbors built one at Aberdeen Lake.

The two families split the cost of $200 for materials and put in almost 20 hours of labor into the project which included building it, sanding it, painting it, and then installing it.

Mini circular saws are recommended for these types of projects for accurately cutting down materials.

“We did this over a couple weekends together. Adriana and I split the cost of the Little Library since we both wanted to bring something to our own community and somewhere close by that we could bring our own children to. We didn’t have any donations for this project,” said Daniels.

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 Adriana Marques Janker and Katie Daniels

There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Sardine Festival this past Friday, and it’s all ready to go for the community.  It has three shelves, ventilation, and is a good size.

“I’d like to help with building Little Libraries for the rest of the parks in Aberdeen, so if anyone would be interested in sponsoring the next one, I’d be more than happy to coordinate,” said Janker.

The Aberdeen Little Free Library has been registered at https://littlefreelibrary.org/, and if anyone would like help building one, they may contact Adriana Marques Janker at 910-574-2796.

Feature photo, L,R: The Daniels’ family, The Janker’s family, and Barbara Allred

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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