The StoryWalk® Project combines family fun, exercise, and literacy into one great community activity. The concept involves posting pages of a book at certain intervals along a walking path. Librarian Jake Rundle will present lessons learned by the Hastings Public Library, especially in preparing materials for Nebraska wind and weather, and participant comments.
NCompass Live - May 8, 2013.
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/ncompasslive/
2. THE INSPIRATION
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne
Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in
collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian
Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library.
Vtbikeped.org
3. GOALS OF THE PROJECT
Combine family fitness
and literacy
Encourage reading
together
Get families out in area
parks and trails
Vtbikeped.org
9. WHAT WE LEARNED
It truly takes a village
It’s more time consuming
than it looks
Picking the right book
makes all the difference
Use protected areas
Plan for ongoing
maintenance
It’s incredibly rewarding!!
14. SUGGESTIONS FOR SUCCESS
Find passionate volunteers
Involve the business
community
Plan fewer locations, and
more books
Hire an awesome tour
guide!
15. OTHER OUTSIDE ADVENTURES
Pub Quiz
Library to Go (Mary Lanning
Memorial Healthcare)
Caregiver’s Day Out
Healthy Kids Day
National Night Out
Late Night Book Club
16. CONTACT US
Hastings Public Library, Hastings Nebraska
Amy Greenland agreenland@hastings.lib.ne.us
Jake Rundle jrundle@hastings.lib.ne.us
Thank you for attending!
Editor's Notes
The idea came to us as a collaboration with Prairie Loft Outdoor Agricultural center just outside of town.Each year in April, we celebrate “planting” season and have a springfest activity for families at Prairie LoftThe first storywalks were part of Springfest and they were very “experimental.” We did two separate books and two separate paths, and we learned A LOT that would be useful for the future collaboration.
First experiment I would suggest be in a downtown or business area…not with posts. Or at least a “short” book As you can see…it’s a lot of work to build an actual storywalk so be prepared!
Several organizations worked together to make this happenNeeded help of Parks, Visitor Services, Kiwanis and Friends of HPL for fundingDowntown Center Association involved in downtown storywalkSeven locations posted in town, 6 outside and the 7th downtownWe divided up the work of deconstructing the books and mounting and had P&R set the posts.