"Little Libraries" are a very valued community project, often done as Eagle Service Projects. As to the idea of making them somewhat "Nature", "Outdoor Literacy" oriented, that too has been done and is a worthy goal. I have known of at least three Little Libraries done as either part of an Eagle Project or the Project itself. One was a nicely done one that involved TWO Little Libraries at two separate State Parks, the nature books specifically elicited and donated for them.
https://littlefreelibrary.org/
https://www.facebook.com/Littlelibraries/
When my son was 8, he broke his arm in a playground fall that occurred while he was participating in a day camp run by a well-known community organization. He fell just 2 feet but landed on his arm awkwardly. Our health insurance company wanted every detail about the situation so they could prove that << well-known community organization >> was liable and avoid playing the claim. It got to the point where we considered paying the $4,000 ER bill out of pocket because we didn't want to bring harm to the organization (who also provides us with reliable after-school childcare during the school year). They eventually dropped their attempt, but our deductible is pretty high, and we wound up covering the entire bill anyway.
Given the extent of our troubles for a standard playground fall, I can't imagine the insurance nightmare this situation will be with a 12-year-old aggressor, a leader out vaping, and a wounded national organization that's just a walking claim-paying machine.
I think we're going to find out who's correct. I totally see your argument, and in the past that line of thinking has been 100% accurate; however, the way charters, membership agreements, council charters, bylaws, etc ... are structured versus before has compartmentalized the risk away from national. They are getting horrible PR right now, the damage is done [in regards to image].