DRAIN — Amid funding reductions for Douglas County libraries, a 6-year-old has set out to make a difference.

Lolly Frost, a home-schooled first-grader, doesn't want to see her beloved library disappear, so she's raising money.

Over the past week, she has been whipping up batches of miniature cookies in a small oven made for children. She's sold them to family, friends, neighbors and any other Drain resident willing to donate to her cause.

Lolly's baking venture has raised $120, with more donations coming in each day.

The money will purchase children's books for the Drain branch. The library, struggling to stay open, relies on gifts and grants to buy new books.

“She's been worried about the library for awhile,” said Valarie Johns, librarian at the Drain branch.

Lolly cherishes the time she spends in the library and nightly story time when her mother, Joy Frost, reads to her from checked-out library books.

“A lot of people love it, and we have a good librarian,” Lolly said. “I just love my library a lot.”

Joy Frost said that she relies on the library for her child's education. She said she wouldn't know what to do if the Drain branch closed.

Joy Frost, who is on the Drain branch library board, talked at home about the library's money problems. She said she didn't realize the effect it was having on her daughter.

“I had to stop talking about it so much because it upset her,” Joy Frost said.

The county's 11-branch system has seen decreases in funding over several years. Staff and hours have been reduced.

The Drain branch is now open 16 hours a week over three days and struggles to buy books.

The future of Douglas County libraries is uncertain because funding is tied to whether the county continues receiving federal timber safety net payments. Library supporters recently suspended a drive to form a taxing district to provide libraries with a stable source of funding.

Lolly may not understand all of the specifics, but she saw her library hurting and felt she could help.

She tried at first to raise money in December by selling eggs laid by her family's chickens.

When the chickens didn't lay enough eggs, Lolly had to give up on her initial pursuit.

“I tried to explain to her we don't have enough chickens to save the library,” Joy Frost said.

Following a belated Christmas present last week, Lolly re-launched her plan to save the library. She received a Rival Cookie Factory from her mother. The miniature baking unit produces nine tiny cookies in seven minutes.

“The first thing she said when she opened it was that she could bake cookies to save the library,” Joy Frost said.

Lolly went to work immediately. With her mom's permission, she called everyone she knew to see if they would buy cookies.

Lolly said people could pay what they want, and 100 percent goes to the library. Lolly started baking and coming to the library bearing money.

“She didn't keep any. She said it would have been backwards to not give the money to the library,” Joy Frost said.

Drain resident Debbie Kleine said she heard about Lolly and felt inspired to donate $40 to the library.

“It's just so cute and darling,” she said. “The poor library relies on donations for books, and she's trying to help everyone out.”

Lolly doesn't have a goal or deadline for her fundraising, but she said she hopes to continue to raise money for her library.

Joy Frost can be contacted at joypalmerfrost@yahoo.com for donations or cookie orders.

• You can reach reporter Ryan Imondi at 541-957-4211 or by email at rimondi@nrtoday.com.