As part of his eighth-grade graduation requirements from St. Mary’s School in Ridgefield, Conn., Jack Greenleaf had to come up with a project. He had a wide choice of options, said his mother, Anne Greenleaf, a summer residentin the Peahala Park section of Long Beach Township.

“He could have built a go-kart for himself,” said Greenleaf. “But he enjoys reading, so he thought he would put up small libraries by the beach.”