How does your StoryWalk® enhance your outreach services?

Is there anything else you'd like to share about your library's StoryWalk(R) story? OPTIONAL

Fluvanna County Public Library

Last year we didn't have many families, but we also didn't advertise until a week or two before.

attracting more visitors to the library

We rotate our stories. We have limited space, so we did this "clothesline" style one (in the picture) this summer. It's a fun way to decorate the outside of the library and attract curious folks.

East Baton Rouge Parish Library

2 of our libraries that have story walks have parks right net to them. The third branch has a lot of neighborhood foot traffic. During the pandemic, parents loved being able to walk outside with their kids and have something to read.

we love the and plan to add more!

Thanks to a partnership between Samuels Public Library, the Rotary Club of Front Royal, and Warren County Parks & Recreation - the Warren County StoryWalk® was installed in December. Since then, five plus books have been showcased along the walk and Samuels Public Library has hosted five special events attracting more than 500 children and their families. Countless other area residents, both young and not so young, have also enjoyed the walk and enchanting stories on their own, all through the winter, spring and summer months.

Here is a quote from the survey we have linked at the end of our StoryWalk®: "Loved the walk! Awesome addition to our Library experience. We look forward to more books on the trails!"

Medina County District Library

MCDL's newest StoryWalk is a partnership with the city schools. The walk is along a deck-like structure that connects a local elementary school to a city park located behind it. This is beneficial for shared parking and for families to enjoy a story AND a walk every day when they arrive and leave school. This beautiful wooded path is a delight to families as they enjoy the season-themed book along the path. This helps families keep the library and our early literacy and school-age service front of mind, as our main library location is only 1.5 miles away!

MCDL also has a StoryWalk with the County Parks at a local park that features an inclusive playground, fishing pond, and wooded walking path.

StoryWalks allow us to maintain outreach services during periods of limited staff availability and they continue to surprise us in how effectively they engage hard to reach communities.

StoryWalks have been very fruitful for us at SPL as a collaborative project bringing together our programming and outreach departments.

It's always open. Books are changed out monthly and our community loves it! Old and young can't wait for another book.

We installed our StoryWalk in December 2020. We love it and often have interactive questions to go along with each page of the book.

We are supporting families' efforts in together time--moving and sharing stories!

By partnering with our county's health coalition and local care providers, we are able to promote wellness and lifelong learning...two outcomes that make our community a great place to live!

Of course! We use a portable storywalk to display during our outreach events and also seasonally in our children's library yard. Families tend to stay longer and get excited about the book they are reading. I even have individual adults pause to read the storywalk. How fun! So yes, it is great pr for the library.

Just that it is a great way to promote reading, fitness, and fun!

Located on the outdoor path off of Ravinia Ave., adjacent to Village Center North Pond, the Orland Park Public Library StoryWalk® is a delightful new way to read and enjoy a story. Pages from a children’s book have been framed and attached to wooden posts which have been installed along the path. The stories change four times a year, just like the seasons. There are also fun activity suggestions, book recommendations, and a calendar of events that rotate with each new book. The current StoryWalk® book is "The Leaf Thief" by Alice Hemming. This book will change in December.
This reading adventure has been made possible through the collaboration of the Orland Park Public Library and the Village of Orland Park. Outreach services are further enhanced with a “Santa at the StoryWalk®” program held yearly, where “Santa” reads the winter StoryWalk® story to children who register for this library program. This drives new interest to the StoryWalk® during a season where it usually sees low attendance. Additionally, the library invites local scouting troops to attend this specific event.

Please let me know if you would like a picture of the “Santa at the StoryWalk®” program.

Our StoryWalk provides a new opportunity each month for kids and families to read a story together while being physically active.

Our StoryWalk was funded in part by a Southwest Initiative Foundation Grow Our Own grant and through local donations.

Muskingum County Library System

Our StoryWalk® enhances our outreach services by providing children stories to read outside of the library. With our StoyWalk® we are able to reach families that might not be able to make it to the library. A StoryWalk® is like a storytime that families get to enjoy together at any point of the day. Instead of families coming to us to checkout a good book we get to bring the book to them.

Our StoryWalk® is located at McDonald's Farm where children can enjoy the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" by Paul Galdone as they walk the trail in the enchanted forest!

We always want to encourage kids to be outside and active and bringing literacy into that is the perfect pairing! We have installed 21 StoryWalk(R) sign holders in a favorite park in our community and plan to have a ribbon cutting for the inaugural book during this week of celebration. We hope this encourages families to get out and explore an area park and build literacy skills along the way. We also hope to include diverse characters/authors/illustrators in as many book choices as we can to promote inclusion in our community.

We do not have a photo to send along yet because the StoryWalk(R) is currently being installed. We will have photos soon and will send them later if that's okay. We will also be doing our ribbon cutting for the first StoryWalk(R) during this week of celebrations so will have many photos at that time and will post on our social media accounts and will tag you as well. This form is requiring us to include a photo so here's the first panel/introductory page.

Prairie Skies Public Library District

Yes. We have lots of families who come in telling us that they visited the Story Walk and when we advertise that we put up a new story they get excited and start making plans on when they can go check it out!

Our StoryWalks offer a unique partnership opportunity between the Library and the Parks Department, utilizing existing park spaces frequented by families, to feature titles the whole family can enjoy!

Our StoryWalk includes regular activities to encourage community and family participation.

The photo above shows some of the entries from our Scarecrow Decorating Contest in October 2022. Families, individuals, and organizations were challenged to create the best-dressed scarecrow, give it a name, and to place it along the 20 frames in the Harvard Community StoryWalk. Members of the community were encouraged to visit the Library to vote for their favorite scarecrow, and the winner will be displayed inside the Library for the remainder of the season. The community really showed their creativity with this project. Some of the favorites included Charlie Brown by the Damiano Family, "College-Bound Crow" made by some junior high students, and "The Bandit" created by employees at our local First National Bank, and "Farmilda" made by our local Harvard Historical Society. Library staff is just thrilled by the community creativity and participation.

We partner with Glenview Park District to host our StoryWalk at Little Bear Garden in Gallery Park. This fall, we hosted a StoryWalk Storytime at the park where librarians led children through the book CARMELA, FULL OF WISHES and then children were able to paint dandelions on a community art project at the end of StoryWalk!

Being out in the community — especially on such a lovely day — gave us another opportunity to connect with patrons in a location other than the library, expanding our reach beyond our brick and mortar building.

Our StoryStrolls are the perfect extension of library service into our community. They are a place for all to engage in literacy activities, while being physically active.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Library

We have celebration events and relate books to large scale initiatives for our community. We have 5 StoryWalks in Mecklenburg County that the Library oversees and maintains.

Link to our photos on flickr for StoryWalks and our website are below:
https://cmlibrary.org/storywalk
https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=storywalk%20cmlibrary

Daviess County Public Library

We change our StoryWalk title every 4-6 weeks, so there is always something new for families to enjoy in our community. Our StoryWalk is located around the walking track of a local park, which also houses a repurposed newspaper box that our Outreach Services staff fills with free books.

Pasco County Library System

The Pasco County Libraries StoryWalk® allows us to extend the arms of literacy into a natural setting. It was initially launched in April 2022 at Jay B. Starkey Wildnerness Park in New Port Richey, FL. Families can experience the sights and sounds of Florida nature while enjoying the story of Armadillo Tattletale by Helen Ketteman. 18 reading posts are stationed along a 0.20 mile nature trail near the playground area of the park. Posts include storybook pages, interactive prompts, fun facts, and local animal photos. This extension of our outreach services has broadened our service efforts, strengthened our communities ties, and enables us to reach families beyond the normal scope of the library on an ongoing basis.

The Pasco County Libraries Storywalk® has been made possible through a partnership with Pasco County Parks and Natural Resources, the Friends of the Pasco County Library System, and AmeriCorp. Each partner has played a generous role in making this project possible. A big thank you goes to our partners on this wonderful collaboration to a make a difference in the Pasco County community!

Our StoryWalk program has allowed us to expand our outreach services! We ran temporary StoryWalks outside two of our branches throughout the summer, with a new story each week. Over 350 people visited these StoryWalks over the summer. We also participated in a City outreach program that visited a different neighbourhood each week for a total of over 170 participants over 8 weeks. In addition to setting up a temporary StoryWalk, we brought other fun activities, such as bubbles, chalk, colouring sheets, and games, to go along with the week's StoryWalk.

Our StoryWalk is one of the many ways Milton kids and adults can use our services, whether we're open or closed! We love being able to offer fresh-air fun for families year-round.

Currently featuring Ways to Welcome by Linda Ashman

Our walk connects individuals and families with literacy in unexpected places.

The walks extend the library's impact in the community. When literacy is at the top of the mind for community members, the library is their next thought!

Our Library Story Walk is located along our local school playground and sports field, also adjacent to our town walking path. This location has encouraged our community to read more and for every to books they read, they can com over to the library to pick out a treasure. We have seen an increase in library activity that is directly correlated to our Story Walk.

In addition to our Story, we have added two activities for each case that holds one or two pages. One activity, is a question from the story page and the second, is a physical activity for the readers to do that correlates with something from the pages.

Provides connections to the library through community events

gives children the chance to read to parents

Our StoryWalk is located at a community park approximately 2.5 miles away from our library. The offsite location of our StoryWalk allows us to reach people that have never visited our physical library space. Through the StoryWalk we are able to inform park visitors about library services, programs and resources.

Our StoryWalk was made possible by a partnership between the Ephrata Public Library, Northern Lancaster Hub and Ephrata Township.

The Cedar Valley is well-known for its trail system, and the trails are constantly in use by locals and visitors. By putting a StoryWalk® along one of the more popular trails, we are able to promote literacy, a healthy lifestyle, and family engagement. While many of our regular library patrons have walked through our StoryWalk®, our StoryWalk® also reaches those who aren't regular library visitors, which we've discovered through our StoryWalk® survey and personal interactions with StoryWalk® users. We hope that participants' interactions with the StoryWalk® will promote the library and its services in a positive way and make them more aware of the library in the community. Since this is a permanent installation with stories that change seasonally, our StoryWalk® is an easy way for people to "attend" a library event on their own time and to discover it again and again.

Chillicothe Public Library District

Our StoryWalk has been a great way for us to stay in touch with our community. We have a baseball fundraiser at the beginning of summer every year and we have been able to utilize the park surrounding the baseball diamonds. This has allowed the stories to be seen by more than just our small town. I believe that this has helped keep us in the public eye throughout the pandemic as well.

Our StoryWalks provide two opportunities along our outdoor bike/walking trails for families to enjoy a book while getting some good exercise! Our books are changed monthly and go along with the seasons and other celebrations. Most recently we celebrated Banned Books Week in the month of September by highlighting "And Tango Makes Three" by Justin Richardson and "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water" by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renee Watson.

Our Story Walk is on a path on the *beautiful* grounds around the enormous building that houses our library, and is enjoyed and appreciated by folks of every age! Those out exercising, dog walkers, preschools, library patrons, and more! We will be hosting a "Night Walk" on November 7th this year, to see the chosen book in a new light: finger lights!

Our Story Walk was made possible through the generosity of the community, who supported the project as part of our Summer Reading program in 2021. It is dedicated to a young library patron whose severe and rare epilepsy condition often prohibits her from entering the building - but not from enjoying this outdoor library experience. So, it's very special indeed...

As part of our local public park district, the Farm Park is park museum and petting zoo based off of a 1920's farm. Fondulac District Library's StoryWalk at Fon du Lac Farm Park brings attention to the library and its services, as well as a fun and interactive literacy activity to families and visitors to one of East Peoria's most popular activities. In July of 2022, the library and Farm Park co-hosted a celebration to mark the new feature. As the library has hosted popular storytimes each summer at the park, the new StoryWalk allows visitors to enjoy a story any time they visit!

The library worked collaboratively with the Farm Park to bring the StoryWalk to fruition. The library purchased and maintains the displays, and Farm Park staff graciously installed and incorporated the displays into the park. They creatively made a few of the displays mobile by mounting them in vintage milk cans/cannisters. Some even are "filled" with seed corn and epoxy to fit the farm theme. The library brings a new story to the displays monthly during open season, including a not-so-spooky story in October for the farm's annual Witches Walk weekends.

The Tavares Public Library is always searching for new ways to host storywalk. This year, we are turning our story walk into a story time. The Youth Services Specialist will read the story to the story time crowd.
We are also hosting a storywalk at a Little Free Library ribbon cutting ceremony (November 5, 2022, the story walk will be Whistle for Wille) and we are partnering wih the Florida Department of Transportation for Mobilty Week (October 21 -28, 2022, the stry walk will be Franklin's Bicycle Helmet).

In celebration of Story Walk Week, the Tavares Public Library is hosting a StoryWalk® Story Time. Laminated pages from a children's book are attached to wooden stakes, which are installed along an outdoor path. As you stroll down the trail, you're directed to the next page in the story. Follow along the library's story walk path with Ms. Valerie as she reads the story. StoryWalk® Week is a partnership with Let’s Move in Libraries, the Association of Bookmobile and Outreach Services, and libraries across the country. In the event of rain, our regular story time will take place indoors.

We have StoryWalks at three of our five locations and they each serve as a wonderful backdrop to events, from Storytimes to outside arts & craft programs. In September, we hosted a large national Good Neighbor Day celebration and we specifically choose "Hey Wall: A Story of Art and Community" by Susan Verde to complement our event.

it's lovely to see families spending time together enjoying the outdoors and our StoryWalks. It's time away from screens when they can really just relax and be together in the moment.

Baltimore County Public Library

Towson (but the trail is in Woodlawn)

The Sensory Story Path at the Baltimore County Public Library Woodlawn Branch follows twelve signs that feature an inclusive story in English, Spanish and Braille, and also includes Augmented Reality video in American Sign Language and audio components where the story is read in English and Spanish. A braille playground panel featuring the alphabet, numbers, and tactile animals further complements the activity.

Research shows that children with Special Needs benefit greatly from time spent outdoors, including improved coordination and motor skills, improved self-esteem, improved behavior and social skills, improved attention span and problem-solving skills, and reduced stress. There are unfortunately less opportunities for children with special needs to play outside because of a lack of accessible play space. This project creates an inclusive outdoor play opportunity. Additionally, this project benefits all children and their caregivers. The Sensory Story Path provides more outdoor time spent reading and talking together.

Having a StoryWalk at outreach events helps bring families together as they share the love of reading in an outdoor area. Children get excited to see what happens next in the story, and parents get to connect to their children as they read the story. When I set up a StoryWalk at my events, I hope to encourage community members to explore their surroundings, promote early literacy, and partake in an activity novel to them.

Clinton-Macomb Public Library

CMPL's Poetry Walk, co-sponsored annually for the last three years with the Tomlinson Arboretum Committee, is a great way to surprise patrons with literature in an unexpected setting!

In 2022, we also co-sponsored a Poetry Contest, and local poets of all ages submitted poems and six winners were chosen to have their poems included in the walk.

Our StoryWalk helps us connect with our patrons outside of the walls of our building AND outside of the library's hours of service. Plus it gives us new ways to partner with community members. Pictures in our attached photos are volunteers from our local Galesburg Sunrise Rotary Club who help clean and maintain our StoryWalk.

We draw in all age groups, use stories related to the season and/or activities going on around town.

Made possible by the Fredonia Beautification Committee and local businesses.

It makes the library more visible to people who might not frequent our doors and provides an opportunity to enhance literacy to people of all ages in a fun and engaging way. We also incorporate a StoryBook I Spy game where families can look for hidden objects in the illustrations.

Located on our front lawn, and created as an Eagle Scout project, our storywalk gives our youngest patrons and their parents an additional way to use our library before they head inside. We have also paired it with a Dial-A-Story option, with local community members reading the appointed story, so that participants can listen along to the story while the walk around the path.

So many families from the community have enjoyed our StoryWalk. It has actually drawn families into our Library. We love to see children AND adults walking along our sidewalk and reading the story or enjoying the movement activities or scavenger hunts that I'll add in there.

This was the best decision we made! We started it during the pandemic as a way to still reach out to the community and offer them an activity to do together even though we couldn't hold programs in person. It is also a GREAT way to pique the interest in strengthening those literacy skills with our younger readers

Allows patrons and visitors to experience books and libraries while enjoying nature.

Thompson Nicola Regional Library - Barriere branch

The StoryWalk is in the park next to the library. I have been creating StoryWalk and Craft to Go bags that correspond with the theme of the story installed. Patrons are invited to stop in the library to pick up the bags before or after they participate in the walk. It enhances outreach by connecting the library to the StoryWalk.

A librarian read audio version of the titles is made available on the walk by scanning a QR code on the title board.

Our StoryWalk started as an alternative option for story hour during the pandemic, but was so enthusiastically received by our community that we made it a permanent feature. Not only has it allowed us to reach children and families that may not come into the library, but we have been amazed by the response from our senior citizen community. We get frequent positive feedback from older citizens who enjoy reading the stories as they walk along our river path. This is a group for whom we had not previously planned a lot of programming, but now we will expand our offerings!

This has been a simple but effective way for the library to expand it's outreach beyond the walls of our building. We would like to incorporate many more such activities into our outreach efforts.

It provides opportunities for our whole community to enjoy an accessible, outdoor literacy experience and become more aware of and informed about the library.

Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County

Media, Social Media, Newsletter, and in-house flyers

The Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County started its StoryWalk at the Steubenville Beatty Park. It has grown to include the Steubenville downtown businesses during the Christmas and Easter holidays and this year to the gem city of Toronto. Next year, the library hopes to expand it even further to reach other communities in the county!

Our StoryWalk is one way for our library to share a love of books and reading with our community.

Our StoryWalk® enhances our outreach by moving our library services outside of the library building. Through its location in a public park and next to a playground, we are able to reach customers with our services who might not visit the physical library branches. And, we have been able to build a strong partnership with our local county's Recreation and Parks Department through this project, as well.

Our library recently created a Mobile Multisensory StoryWalk®, funded in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and administered by the Maryland State Library. In partnership with the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled, the featured story is Braille adapted, and QR codes on each of the panels guide readers to audio recordings of the story. The Storywalk® is mobile, since it is attached to real estate-style metal sign frames, and it was recently featured at the Worcester County Fair in Snow Hill, MD. We plan on sharing the Storywalk® at all of our physical library branches as well as at local schools and various community events.

Our Braille enhanced StoryWalk® hosted at Seattle Sensory Garden inside the Rose Garden of the Woodland Park Zoo brought together partners city-wide to provide a more accessible StoryWalk® experience for our communities.

This program developed as part of our Virtual Inclusion Festival we've hosted in partnership with The Arc of King County and Northwest Center since the summer of 2020. With the goal of tiptoeing into in-person programming, our team of partners worked together to bring this StoryWalk® to life. Each book (The Thing About Bees: A Love Story and Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You) was displayed throughout Seattle Sensory Garden which provides a wheelchair accessible space emphasizing outdoor sensory experiences. Washington Talking Book and Braille Library created Braille overlays for each of our StoryWalk® titles this summer. Woodland Park Zoo provided a slew of fun/accessible activities for both launch days, as well as virtual ASL interpretation for our live story times featuring each book on display throughout the garden. It was a community led, team effort demonstrating how rich programs can be with accessibility at the forefront.

It is another way to provide a library service outside of the library at a park that is frequented by many families with children. We use it as a point of distribution for library information along with a Little Free Library to distribute books that is also at the park. There is a virtual guestbook for people to sign when they visit the storywalk and they can vote for the next book to go in the storywalk each quarter.

Helps to bring library experience outdoors by the RiverWalk in Salisbury

encourages our summer vacation residents to visit the library more and be involved in other programs and events at the library.

This summer we had a Bike & Read StoryWalk(R) at the town park, along with our other four StoryWalk(R) books that went around the block that our library is located at. This is one of the favorite summer activities for many of the families in our small town.

Gives the community a chance to explore a part of North Hero they may not have had the chance to.

Visit our StoryWalk at beautiful Camp Ingalls!

Collaborating with Friends of Haystack Mountain on this StoryWalk® will increase the number of children that the library will impact through a family-friendly activity and increase the recognition for both organizations.

Friends of Haystack Mountain is a group of local citizens organized to protect Haystack Mountain in Liberty, Maine. They are raising money to purchase and preserve the land that the Haystack Mountain Trail transverses. The trail begins 200 yards behind Walker Elementary School and is used regularly by the teachers and students. The StoryWalk® is a family-friendly activity that will make folks aware of the fundraiser and hopefully garner some donations. Midcoast Conservancy is serving as a fiscal sponsor for this project.

It promotes community and engages community members to be thankful and grateful for our community members. The bilingual content allows for a multicultural experience. It's interactive component takes it a step further with a scanable QR code for a multi-sensory experience.

The story is written by a Latin Grammy Award winning band called 123 Andres who also performed a virtual concert for us a few days before. They have also read their book aloud and online to our community during the pandemic. We have their book to check out at the library and we also gave the books out to StoryWalk participants.

Our Ice Age Trail StoryWalk® allowed our library to be seen by the many hikers across Wisconsin who were also participating in the Ice Age Trail Mammoth Hike Challenge. We were able to showcase a book to correspond with hiking that would encourage families to get outside and enjoy the local trails. We found a lot of people stopping into the library after attending the StoryWalk® in order to visit the library again or for the very first time.

This StoryWalk® was one of the kick-off events for the Ice Age Trail Mammoth Hike Challenge 2022 hosted by the Ice Age Trail Alliance.

Midland Park Memorial Library

We often use books that are part of the school curriculum

Morristown Public Library, NY

Our patrons are able to enjoy a story any time while benefiting from the fresh air and exercise.

Our StoryWalk allows us to have a presence in a community park. The StoryWalk and Little Free Library allow us to connect with people in a new way, and we can reach people who may not go to the library. The StoryWalk brings delight and novelty to those who visit Mraz Park, and people know that it was brought to them by the Berwyn Public Library.

Gloucester County Library System

The GCLS StoryWalk at the Locke Ave. Park helps to enhance our mission to help create an engaged and connected community, especially for residents who have a difficult time getting to the library. Many community events are held at this park, and having a presence there helps us to continually reach residents in new ways. We are able to promote literacy to those who aren't inherent library users, and we can introduce the love of reading to as many residents as we can!

We have a wonder staff member who creates these great StoryWalks. We started off with just one on a local walking trail in town. This has grown to now having local schools and businesses asking us to put them up at different events.

A StoryWalk a fun outdoor activity that families can enjoy together any time, even if the library is closed, and needs no registration or sign up. Families who might not feel comfortable coming into the library, are working when we have programs, or encounter any other barriers to access can easily engage with literacy through a StoryWalk.

We have lovely outdoor space at our library but have never used it to it's full potential. Part of my goal was to take advantage of the beautiful lawn and trees and provide families with an experience both with literacy but also nature.

It's an exciting, interactive way for children—and adults—to enjoy reading and the outdoors! People can read at their own pace, and no one needs a library card.

Santa Clara County Library District

Our StoryWalk® invites young readers and their families literally and figuratively into the library. Starting on a path that connects to a Memorial Grove, visitors are led around from the back to the front of the library, where they can continue their adventure into the world of literature inside the building.

The current title on display is Skelton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler. Featured titles change out regularly, so we encourage everyone to keep an eye on the StoryWalk®. Past titles include Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox and Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas.

Bath County Memorial Library

We currently have four locations for our Story Strolls. Two in community parks, two at the elementary schools which are accessible to the public during non-school hours. I rotate the stories between the locations. On the last panel I can add a calendar of events or information about bookmobile and outreach services to help advertise library programs and services.

Children of our community read the book with eagerness every time we do offer the StoryWalk. They love this program and cannot wait until is up!

Charles H. Stone Memorial Library

Storywalks allow us to reach members of the community that are unable to come to the library during our regular hours, as well as providing an opportunity to engage with people who lean toward physical activity rather than reading. We are happy to partner with the State Park and local businesses to also support tourism by connecting with visitors to our community.

It has been a wonderful addition to our library outreach! We partner with The Distant Hill Nature Trail and that is where the story walk is installed. They have seen a tremendous increase in visitors since we installed the first story walk 2 years ago. Those visitors have often not thought of visiting the library. Now they do. The cross promotion has been helpful for both organizations and we now have additional programs, such as the Teddy Bear Parade, together.

We have been doing a story walk with Distant Hill Nature Trail for over two years. I put up a new story every month. In the winter we provide sleds and snowshoes and in the summer wagons if people want. The walk has been written up in many "things to do in the area" articles and people have visited from all over the country.

Yes, we are seeing more families visiting our sanctuary.

We are an Audubon Center and Sanctuary called Francis Beidler Forest. An Eagle Scout installed the StoryWalk on our property.

The North Liberty StoryWalk’s featured book, The Hugging Tree by Jill Neimark, was selected as part of the library’s Self-Healing Communities initiative. Its story, focusing on a tree trying to grow on the side of a cliff, uses the tree's struggles as a metaphor for resilience under trying circumstances.


The Town of North Liberty authorized us to install the StoryWalk along two different walking/biking paths during the summer. At the beginning of the summer, the signs were placed along “Tamarack Trail” which has an access point at the town’s baseball/softball fields. It was our hope that families spending time at the park would also take advantage of the StoryWalk.


For the second half of the summer, we moved the signs to help publicize the town’s new trail, “Stellar Trail.” The pathway runs between a housing subdivision and North Liberty Elementary School. We placed the signs toward the school end of the trail. Once school began, the school’s principal told us that he encouraged teachers to take their students along the StoryWalk.

Our library also held two more StoryWalks over the summer at the Snite Museum of Art and St. Patrick's County Park.

Story Walks are such a fun way for families to share a literacy experience along some of our City's beautiful trails.

It is a great way to get our name out in the community and gives us a great place to do outreach events and opportunities to partner with the Village and local entities.

Our community really loves the StoryWalk. We are hoping to add a second one soon. We change the story quarterly (if not more) and people get very excited. We have done two very successful mini-golf fundraisers at the StoryWalk. It has been a great addition to the Plainfield Community.

Not only does this bring enjoyment to our patrons it has strengthened two of our community partnerships. Collaboratively, with the Nixa and Ozark Parks and Recreation Departments, we are promoting fitness, wellness and literacy opportunities for the people of Christian County.

Apache Junction Public Library

StoryWalk reminds everyone of its readers that a fun story is good for the soul (and to visit the library for more stories)!

As a partnership with the City of Janesville Parks & Recreation Department, the School District of Janesville, and Hedberg Public Library, our StoryWalk(R) started as a way to encourage families to engage in outdoor and early literacy activities while practicing safe distancing during the Pandemic. With a permanent site now at the School District's Outdoor Learning Lab at the Arboretum, the books change seasonally, allowing families and groups to enjoy a story while walking the trails together.

Sequoyah Regional Library System

Our Trail Stories are a great way to passively reach new users through engaging stories and corresponding activities, reaching those who potentially haven't been into our buildings by meeting them where they are. Our signage includes QR codes to social media and library resources.

Storywalk reaches current and potential library users alike.

This Halloween StoryWalk® allowed us to reach the youngest students from our local school district, partnering with them to bring literacy and fun to a local outdoor park!

Eccles-Lesher Memorial Library

Our Storybook Trail helps inspire a love of reading in the children that visit. They read the trail book and want more!! The families are so positive about the walk and can't wait to join our other library programs.

This was our second year for our Storybook Trail! We are so proud to have encouraged a love of reading in the children of our service area and beyond. We would like to thank The Redbank Valley Trail Association (@redbankvalleytrail) for their cooperation and support!!

Rowan County's first StoryWalk installation allows us not only to partner more closely with other community organizations, including both founding supporters and ongoing sponsors, but also to present our neighbors and patrons with a way to access reading in a fun, approachable environment. Families are invited to explore a park filled with new stories every couple of months, so the experience is always fresh. Rotating books through the StoryWalk enables us to remain at the front of community awareness, since we can consistently announce new stories, and anyone who visits the installation is also encouraged to think of our library by the signage detailing its development and celebrating our mission of lifelong learning. Our StoryWalk brings us closer to our community, and it helps to bring that community into the library.

The excitement of children and families when they hear about the StoryWalk for the first time, or when they learn there's a new book featured there, is worth every bit of effort that was required to make it happen. In its own way, the StoryWalk is almost like a miniature library branch in that it's become a destination for people in search of reading and storytelling services. When people think of the library, they now also think of the StoryWalk and vice-versa. Anything that creates interest in reading is a winners-only situation.

Charleston County Public Library

Our StoryWalks, which are a partnership with the Charleston County Parks, help us to promote literacy, exercise, and our local parks. It encourages families to not just read a story together, but to interact with a story. The partnership with the County Parks allows us to not just promote our library system and literacy, but also promote our local parks system and the natural beauty of the Charleston area.

We are fortunate enough to have three total StoryWalks at three different parks in Charleston County. This allows us to reach more of the Charleston community. We also switch out the stories every quarter which keeps the StoryWalks fresh and new.

We are able to reach people outside of the physical building with these installments. Our first page of the storywalk has QR codes and links to our website. Our Sunset park storywalk is in partnership with our Benton City Park. That builds a relationship with other entities in our county and shows patrons how we are working together to provide services and entertainment. Each page of the story also features facts about the benefits of outdoor play and literacy, as well as "nature scavenger hunt" pages that encourage people to be aware of their environment and interact with it. We also have the first phase of storywalks at another park in a more rural area of our county, the Crossing at Angel Court park. Our goal is to have a storywalk installment at every park in our county.

The StoryWalk project provides children — and adults — a fun way to explore their community, and an engaging discovery to read.

It makes the Library visible in a different part of town, at a very busy public park

Our timing just happened that our StoryWalk(R) launched at the beginning of the pandemic, so it was a hit from the start. We get lots of positive feedback from the community. We change the story out once per month, except from December through March, due to the Iowa winter

The Lockport Public Library StoryWalk® locations are true extensions of the physical library and allow all ages and abilities to engage in physical activity while fostering the love of reading. The Lockport Public Library has two StoryWalk® locations in our community. One is located by the historic Erie Canal in the City of Lockport, New York and the second is featured at Day Road Park, a vibrant park, located in the Town of Lockport, New York.

The Lockport Public Library Storywalk® is presented by the Lockport Public Library, funded by the Garman Family Foundation and administered by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, in partnership with the Town of Lockport, New York and the City of Lockport, New York.

Lockport Public Library Staff
Executive Director-Beverly Federspiel
Head of Youth Services-RoseAnn Haseley
Youth Services Librarian-Theresa Zaciewski

Springfield-Greene County Library District

The StoryWalk® project is a great way to promote the library in our community while providing a fun family activity. This year we added portable sign boards to our StoryWalk® program, making it easier to set up at community events.

Indian Trails Public Library District

Our StoryWalk is in collaboration with the Buffalo Grove Park District, located in one of their parks 10 minutes from the library. It's a great extension of the library's reach in our district and a way to encourage families to visit the park and walk its trail.

Increases public awareness of their library's enthusiasm for young readers

In 2021 our library partnered with the (local) Mount Pisgah State Park Educator, Rich Gulyas and The Friends of the park. In 2022 Rich, the park educator, staged several more walks because of the enthusiasm park visitors expressed for the activity. They even staged one around the outside of the pool fence to occupy bathers during activity breaks.

Our StoryWalk installation is located in our Inside/Out Garden, adjacent to the building, and is a community destination for walkers, families and nature lovers. StoryWalk draws these visitor into the building to discover the wealth of resources inside.

StoryWalk is more than just a display for books: it has become a vital part of Sachem Public Library programs and events. In support of our outdoor Haunted Garden walk, this year the stations transformed into a "Scooby Doo" guessing game. Last year, quotes from "Goosebumps" books added a literary tie-in to the walk's visual scenes.

Fairfax County Public Library - Martha Washington Library

When we put a new one up, people walking the path smile at us, and the teachers at the school across the street ask if there is a new one up.

Granville County Public Library

Our Storywalk engages families at the Granville Athletic Park, encouraging exercise and advertising library locations & services.

We often visit our story walks with outreach summer reading programs. One new story walk, to be installed next month, is in partnership with our downtown merchants. This will take readers through town and bring them to the door of our library. Children who complete this story walk can answer a few simple questions (one; Do you have a library card? If not, perfect time to sign up . . . ) The last stop on this walk also offers a token for children to use with our new book vending machine so that they can pick a book to keep!

Our StoryWalk is a joint partnership with the Polk County Parks and Recreation Department. We alternate topics between children's stories and health and wellness topics/fitness stations. During the pandemic, the StoryWalk provided a safe activity for all in the community to share. This past summer, the chosen book was bilingual and included information about the libraries in both English and Spanish. The walk has become a way to reach many in our community who would otherwise have little contact with the libraries.

Some of our elementary classes have incorporated it into their curriculum. The daycares have been using it for their afternoon strolls. We have had numerous families fill out the survey from the URL code we put on the last two panels. These are families that can't always make it to our storytime at the library.

The Sundance StoryWalk is new to our community, being installed and completed in September. We received a Wyoming Community Foundation Grant and our Crook County Library Foundation matched the grant and they are funding any additional costs such as books, activity supplies, etc. We have two bins set up at two different panels that house hands on activities for the families. Currently with our "Pete the Cat: Crayons Rock!" story they can pick up a set of paint sample swatches to take along with them to match colors in nature.

Allowing our patrons to experience a fun story in a unique way

Special thanks to Sue Fleiss and Penguin Publishers for allowing us to enlarge the book pages for our StoryWalk®!