BRYAN, Texas — One Bryan 14-year-old proves it does not matter how old someone is, anyone can make a difference in their community.
Maggie McCollum is a proud Crockett Rocket.
"Crockett Elementary has done so much for me and all of my brothers, I'm glad that I got to do something for them too," said McCollum, a freshman at Bryan High School.
McCollum is also a girl scout, an organization she has been part of since she was in Kindergarten at the Bryan ISD elementary school. A few months ago, McCollum was going for her silver award with her troop.
"It’s the highest thing you can earn as a cadet," McCollum said.
To get the badge, McCollum had to do a 50-hour service project. She figured since she loves reading and she loves her old elementary school, "Why not build a lending library?"
“I knew the students at Crockett Elementary have economic troubles, I wanted to give them away to get books for free," McCollum said.
McCollum and her dad got all the supplies together.
"We had to figure out what we were going to make it out of," McCollum said.
They used items like a compression tank, an old umbrella stand and a fertilizer spreader to build the rocket-shaped little library.
Then she, with the help from her family and others around the community, filled up the shelves with books.
“I got donations from all sorts of people," McCollum said. "My mom posted stuff on her Facebook, we got a bunch of her friends [to donate] and we had some people across the world order books from our Amazon wish lists.”
Since the library has been around for a few months, now and then McCollum and her parents will refill the shelves.
"It inspires us to be better," said Debi Ehrhardt, the principal at Crockett Elementary.
Now children at McCollum's old stomping grounds can pick out a book for free, take it home and read it anytime they want. If they want to add to the collection or return a book that is just as welcomed.
Ehrhardt is glad her former student has such fond memories of the elementary school, especially strong enough feelings to come back and build something so useful for others.
"Kids are excited to open it, get new books and give back those books that they’ve read," Ehrhardt said. "It builds our community and builds that love of reading.”
McCollum said if anyone wants to donate books to the library, all they have to do is stop by the school and drop them off.