SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. —Sara Lynn Holbert resigned from her position as assistant superintendent for Social Circle City Schools on Thursday.

Before she left, however, she managed to see one last vision come to life.

Starting this month, the four Social Circle schools will each boast their own mini-library — a box filled with books, allowing students to take a book to read as long as they leave one in return — and Holbert said she’s thrilled to see the project completed at last.

“It was a dream of mine to set up these mini-libraries at each school,” Holbert said.

What started as a simple idea soon expanded into a cross-curricular project, involving students, teachers and the community at large to make the project a reality.

First, Holbert partnered with the schools’ media specialists to help bring the project to life. Brandie Owens, from Social Circle Primary School, Pam Wimpey, from Social Circle Elementary School, and Michelle Spell, from Social Circle Middle/High School, all pitched in to help.

“I’ve been hoping the response will be big,” Owens said.

Soon, the project had roped in the high school’s agriculture department, where students in woodworking and shop classes joined the project, as well as the art teacher at each school.

“We partnered with the high school agriculture department and the art teachers at each school,” Holbert said. “The students would build the boxes and then the art teachers painted them.”

With the students’ help to build the wooden boxes that would house the books at each school, and the art teachers stepping in to finish their visual presentation, the boxes were ready by school years’ end.

“It’s been a true collaboration,” Holbert said.

Each box will be set up on campus — the middle and high school boxes will be set up at either end of the schools’ shared campus — and allow people to borrow books even when school is not in session.

“It’s take a book, leave a book,” Holbert said.

While the books on the primary and elementary campuses will be kept age-appropriate, books for older audiences will be allowed in the boxes on the middle/high school campus to allow parents to borrow books if they’d like, as well.

Holbert said the boxes would be going up almost any day now.

“We’re in the process now of getting them up,” she said. “There will then be one on each campus.”

Owens said she’s looking forward to kids getting to borrow books and learn the proper etiquette on how to use the mini-libraries.

“I’m excited to see what their response will be,” Owens said.

For Holbert, who bid the school system farewell this week, the mini-libraries represent a lasting monument to her vision for the school system, one she hopes to see stand the test of time for years to come.

“This is kind of my lasting legacy,” Holbert said.