{"id":76570,"date":"2026-01-02T23:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/76570\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T23:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:41:13","slug":"newton-twp-boy-scout-builds-free-library-in-newton-recreation-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/76570\/","title":{"rendered":"Newton Twp. Boy Scout builds free library in Newton Recreation Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWTON TWP. \u2014 A township resident hopes to bring the community to the Newton Recreation Center while connecting with its past with his Eagle Scout project.<\/p>\n

Derek Williams, a member of Boy Scout Troop 160 of Clarks Summit, built a free library in the building\u2019s history room. The library, which Williams built and finished last month, features two bookshelves, one about 12 feet by three feet in length, the other five feet by four feet, with books for children and adults.<\/p>\n

The public is allowed to pick up a book from one of the shelves or donate books. Books that are on the shelf currently were donated by members of the community and by the Abington Heights High School senior and his family. The library will be open when the center office is open.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anybody comes by and they want to read a book or two, they can just take it at no costs or strings attached,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Derek, 17, decided to do his project at the center on Newton Ransom Boulevard last summer after he got a call from Georgia Liberatori, the center\u2019s board treasurer. She said she had the idea of putting a library in the building for a long time as a way to draw people inside and thought it would make a good Eagle Scout project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people in our community don\u2019t realize what we have here, what we can offer here,\u201d Liberatori said. \u201cAnd rather than a little box out in the parking lot, I thought we have the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derek planned the project during the summer and fall months, and began working on it with help from members of his troop last month, while his aunt, Liz Williams, donated materials. He finished it Dec. 20.<\/p>\n

Derek said while he likes building things, he had never constructed a bookshelf, but he got help from a friend and fellow scout, James Mitchell, who works at Dalton Do It Center, and his physics teacher, Dan Vannan.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really nice to be able to plan out a bookshelf and then see how much wood I\u2019ll need,\u201d Derek said.<\/p>\n

Liberatori said the project was a process that involved cutting the molding in the room, pre-cutting and building the shelves, and securing it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a whole crew in here,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI never saw so many Milwaukee tools in one place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s section of the free library at the Newton Recreation Center in Newton Twp. on Friday, Jan. 02, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Boy<\/p>\n

Boy Scout Derek Williams Newton sits next to the children\u2019s section of the new free library Newton Recreation Center in Newton Twp. on Friday, Jan. 02, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The adult section of the free library at the Newton Recreation Center in Newton Twp. on Friday, Jan. 02, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"Boy<\/p>\n

Boy Scout Derek Williams Newton stands next to the children\u2019s section of the new free library at the Newton Recreation Center in Newton Twp. on Friday, Jan. 02, 2026. Williams volunteered to create the library as part of his pursuit to become an Eagle Scout. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 4<\/p>\n

The children\u2019s section of the free library at the Newton Recreation Center in Newton Twp. on Friday, Jan. 02, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA\/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

The new library is located among the historical yearbooks, photographs and other memorabilia from the days when the building operated as the township\u2019s school. Originally built in 1939, it operated as the township\u2019s high school and as an elementary school until the mid-90s.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Derek, who went to preschool at the center, even found photos of his own family among the archives while constructing the shelves, finding a high school graduation photo of his late grandmother, Justine Jadick, who attended high school in the building. His mom, Tamara Jadick attended elementary school in the building.<\/p>\n

He likes that although the bookshelves are new, the blend in well with the room\u2019s existing shelves. Derek also appreciates the help he got on the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very happy about it,\u201d Derek said. \u201cI think it works well with the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project is the first at the center since the center\u2019s current board formed in 2023. Board members and staff are happy with how it turned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a wonderful addition to be able to offer it to the community,\u201d said Bobbi Jo Klinkel, the center\u2019s administrator. \u201cI couldn\u2019t ask for anything better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sue Richter, a board member and the center\u2019s event coordinator, said the library is a good way for people to see the history room.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s awesome that we got the Boy Scouts involved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Derek hopes people who take out books will look at the historical items in the room and learn more about the building\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could actually just look at all the history and then actually realize how much this rec center has been (around) and just how much it serves this community,\u201d he said. \u201cYou might come in here for a book, but you might leave knowing all this different knowledge about the rec center.\u201d<\/p>\n

Center staff hope to formally open the library to the public this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWTON TWP. \u2014 A township resident hopes to bring the community to the Newton Recreation Center while connecting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,15728,28,178,180,179],"class_list":{"0":"post-76570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-lackawanna-county","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-newton-township","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-scranton","14":"tag-scranton-headlines","15":"tag-scranton-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}