Since 2021, Verona has had a community garden next to H.B. Whitehorne Middle School in the center of town. Now, there’s a library on gardening to go with it.
The students of Kathy Thomas, a speech-language teacher at HBW, worked with tech ed teacher Julia Zambrano this past June to build a Little Free Library that could be installed outdoors at the garden. This past week, Thomas and former middle school science teacher Carol Thomas, who now manages the garden, completed the installation. The Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence (VFEE) provided a grant for that work.
The next step is to stock the library with books for children on pollinators and gardening. Middle school students tended a bed at the garden this past summer, and Thomas is looking to increase their understanding of growing vegetables. If you have a book to donate, simply drop it in the library box, which is next to the garden sign by the municipal parking lot. “They are welcome to take one as well if there are books inside,” Thomas says.
