OSWEGO – AmeriCorps member Kaitlyn Grant has been working at the Springboard Mural Project and the Little Free Library Project this summer.
The Oswego AmeriCorps Program focuses on services for children and families.
Members provide fitness and nutrition education activities for youth, manage volunteers and housing services for economically disadvantaged individuals and families.
Members will serve at schools, libraries, recreation programs and human service agencies throughout the county.
Two AmeriCorps sites in Oswego County are the Springboard Mural Project and the Little Free Library Project.
The Springboard Mural Project gives youth 21 and younger the opportunity to show their artistic abilities while also contributing to the beauty of Oswego.
The project is wrapping up its 11th year, with 15 murals this year.
The Little Free Library project has been active in Oswego County since 2013.
When the program first started there were only two libraries located in Breitbeck Park and West Park.
Since then, there has been the addition of Shapiro Park, East Park and Oakhill Park.
Currently there are four libraries located in Breitbeck, Shapiro, East, and Oakhill parks.
There are libraries located in Fulton as well, but AmeriCorps does not oversee them.
The Little Free Library project is designed to get books to kids and adults and to build a sense of community.
The idea is to take a book and give a book.
Book donations are accepted as well.
As an AmeriCorps member at these two sites, Grant managed volunteer youth participating in the mural project.
For the Little Free Libraries, Grant went to each library in Oswego to make sure each library was filled with appropriate books and that there was no damage to each library.
“It was rewarding to see the progress of the murals from when the kids began to when they finished,” Grant said. “It was also great to see that the books I put into the libraries were gone and other books were left in their place. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in such a great program.”
