Collins joined Bailey Bird, 12, and sisters Katelyn Melcher, 10, and Emily Melcher, 13, in spearheading the collection in April. The girls went everywhere — schools, churches, book fairs — to place collection boxes and promote the cause.
It wasn't long before the book drive took on a life of its own, said Bailey's mother, Tonya.
"When the girls started out, they were talking about how many they wanted to collect, and we kind of came up with we would try for 500 to 1,000, and then people kept saying, 'We have more books for you to pick up,'" Tonya Bird said.
The project earned the girls a Silver Award from the Girl Scouts, the second-highest honor a Girl Scout can receive. She said she'd like to work with the school's family resource director, Heather Bryant, to coordinate future projects.
