Miranda Dangler is a Whitehall-Coplay Middle School seventh-grade social studies teacher. She is also the adviser for the school’s Reading Olympics Club, a role she took on in 2018.

The club was started in 2016. On average, there are 10 to 13 student members.

One event the Reading Olympics Club participates in is Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21’s annual trivia competition, held in the beginning of May. CLIU provides a list of books for students to read, and the trivia questions are based on that content. This year’s competition was held at WCMS, and the first-place winner was Lower Macungie Middle School.

Club members also meet once a month to discuss the books they are reading and to promote reading in general. For this past school year, students worked on promoting reading in the library.

WCMS’ librarian is Kevin Loht, and Dangler said he helps a lot with the club.

A new goal was initiated in 2019 to have a Little Free Library at each park or playground association within Whitehall-Coplay School District. This idea came to Dr. Trever Pinho, school psychologist at the time.

“As part of the building, clubs and after- school programs, one of the things you have to do is a community service piece, so we decided that the Little Free Library would be ours,” Dangler said.

For those unfamiliar with Little Free Library, it is, according to its website, a “nonprofit organization based in St. Paul, Minn. Our mission is to be a catalyst for building community, inspiring readers and expanding book access for all through a global network of volunteer-led Little Free Library book-exchange boxes.

“Our vision is a Little Free Library in every community and a book for every reader. We believe all people are empowered when the opportunity to discover a personally relevant book to read is not limited by time, space or privilege,” according to littlefreelibrary.org.

The first Little Free Library to be installed by the club was at Hokendauqua Park and Playground, 3417 Lehigh St., during the 2018-19 school year. Students painted the library box black, with two maroon strips to give it a Zephyrs touch.

“[The Little Free Library is] for the community,” Dangler said. “It’s an opportunity to get people to read.”

Another park that has a Little Free Library is Schadt Avenue Playground, 1975 Schadt Ave.

Dangler is currently working on getting a Little Free Library installed at either Victor C. Talotta Cementon Park, 5185 Dewey St., or Egypt Memorial Park, Hillcrest Lane and Curt Simmons Drive, dedicated to the club members of the 2022-23 school year, hopefully this summer, she said.

Sheldon Poremba, technology education teacher, is the go-to person to help build these libraries. For installation, the playground association helps with this step.

“We register the Little Free Libraries. There’s a website you can go to, and on that website, people can search anywhere. We’re on that website. Our current Little Free Libraries are chartered on [its] website.

“We purchase a plaque through the website, and then it will say Reading Olympics, Whitehall-Coplay Middle School and the school year we’re dedicating it to,” Dangler added.

For the Reading Olympics Club, all the skills a student needs to possess is a love for reading, Dangler said. If you’re a middle school student and would like to join for the 2023-24 academic year, Dangler said information is distributed at the beginning of every academic year.

“I actually think the students enjoy the club because it’s a different opportunity than some of the other opportunities we used to have in the middle school,” Dangler said. “A lot of them required you to have some sort of skill, like in athletics or band, and so if you didn’t fall into either of those categories, we didn’t quite offer many different opportunities. Now there’s an Art Club, too.

“It’s a really neat experience. The kids have a lot of fun. They get to talk books and meet other students. If you like reading, it’s a really great opportunity,” Dangler added.

If you’re interested in donating money or volunteering your time to help build or install a Little Free Library, email Dangler at danglerm@whitehallcoplay.org.