Last summer, Girl Scout Ann-Marie Franko sent out a call for books to her friends, local businesses and the people on her parents’ Bob and Melanie Franko’s Christmas card list. Her goal was to collect books for the family literacy program at the Harbor City Boys and Girls Club. The project was part of a public service requirement for the Girl Scout Gold Award, Girl Scouting’s highest award.
The response exceeded her expectations. Boxes of books from all across the United States began arriving almost daily at her family’s Manhattan Beach home. Over 1,600 books were catalogued by Franko, her family and friends. They also built shelves for the books.
The Rolling Hills Prep junior soon realized that she had more books than the Harbor City center could accommodate. Working with Ricardo Martinez of the Boys & Girls Club, Anne-Marie arranged to build libraries at the Gardena and Harbor Gateway centers, as well.
At the Harbor City Boys and Girls Clubs the books were divided into three libraries – one for young readers, a bi-lingual family literacy library and a reference library.
The libraries were unveiled during the club’s 6th Annual Dr. Seuss Birthday Bash on March 4. After reading to the children, Franko told them that “Reading is the magic key – it takes where you want to be.” B
