The Lincoln Pelham Public Library (LPPL) held the ribbon cutting of its first permanent StoryWalk in Pelham at Woodstream Park in October.
The park, located at 87 Spruceside Crescent, in Fonthill, now provides an outdoor reading experience, in which pages from a book are displayed along a trail or pathway. StoryWalks encourage literacy and physical movement.
Funding for the StoryWalk was provided by the Pelham Art Festival, while the Town of Pelham installed the posts and StoryWalk panels.
Books will be changed regularly. The inaugural book is The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams.
The StoryWalk concept was created by Anne Ferguson, of Montpelier, Ver., and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
The CEO of the LPPL, Julie Andrews, told a small assembly of Pelham residents that StoryWalk fosters the early reading skills of children, and have been installed in hundreds of communities in Canada and the U.S. since 2007.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity, because it combines three favourite family activities: reading together, spending time outside, and physical activity,” said Andrews.
Before Mayor Marvin Junkin cut the ceremonial ribbon with an enormous pair of shears, he said, “I was an avid reader as a kid, and loved books. They take you where you can’t go in a car. Dedicated volunteers and library staff saw the potential to expand the StoryWalk program, and residents now have an opportunity for learning and literacy alongside physical activity. To quote the famous children’s author Dr. Seuss: 'The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more you learn, the more places you will go.' ”
