Dozens of Little Free Libraries to Sprout across Philadelphia Communities in Spring 2022
As part of its annual MLK Day of Service Project, the General Building Contractors Association has joined forces with apprentices from the Carpenters Joint Apprentice Training Center - specifically their Pre-Apprentice Program - the Carpenters' Apprentice Ready Program (CARP) to build dozens of little book houses for Philadelphia communities, to be enjoyed this Spring.
PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Dozens of little free libraries will sprout across Philadelphia communities this coming spring. In celebration of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the General Building Contractors Association (GBCA) and members of the JAC's Carpenters' Apprentice Ready Program (CARP) have partnered with local community members to design and build more than a dozen little book houses that will be placed in various areas of the city.
Every year the GBCA orchestrates its MLK Day of Service Project. This year, the organization is getting a boost from the Clemens Construction Company, which has donated materials to build boxes. Spike's Trophies will donate decorative plaques for each box.
"Dr. King famously said: 'Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.' And we couldn't have been more honored to have an opportunity to serve the communities in which we build," said Angela Hendrix, Senior Director, Training and Workforce Development with the GBCA. "We hope that these little libraries help foster stronger communities as neighbors share their books with one another and inspire local youth to read and learn."
On Saturday, January 15th, approximately 30 CARP apprentices and their six instructors from the Carpenters Joint Apprentice Training Center will come together and work from a sketch to bring each box to life. Philadelphia Council Members Mark Squilla; Katherine Gilmore-Richardson; Derek Green; and Brian O'Neill's director of legislation Bobby Yerkov, will attend Saturday's MLK event at CARP's training center.
The carpenters will then install the library boxes across various city districts in Spring, when the weather is more encouraging for people to take a book or leave a book.
The General Building Contractors Association hopes the lending library boxes will remind community members that union carpenters build things big and small of everyday importance while also highlighting the rewarding career opportunities available to Philadelphians through CARP.
The 12-week CARP program focuses on bringing more minorities and women from underserved communities into the trade. It takes people who have never even held a measuring tape and teaches them the basics of carpentry; opening the door to a viable career path, with a history of solid, predictable, wages and benefits that can scale and sustain a family.
To learn more about the Philadelphia Carpenters' Apprentice Program schedule for 2022, click here.
Media Contact
Maria Coder, General Building Contractors Association, 954-379-2115, [email protected]
SOURCE General Building Contractors Association
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