Lower Valley libraries combine literacy and laps for StoryWalks

Colorful pictures, entertaining text and fresh air will converge to engage Lower Valley families through a year-long series of StoryWalks.

Hosted by Sharpsburg Community Library and Cooper-Siegel Community Library, the walks are scheduled to begin later this month and run through November.

“Families will be able to walk and read a story as they move along,” Sara Mariacher, Sharpsburg library director said. “This is a wonderful way to connect literacy to our outdoor spaces and to reach people where they are, especially when we cannot do in-person programs for the foreseeable future.”

The activities are scheduled for Kennedy Park in Sharpsburg, pending council’s approval and at the Welcome Garden at Cooper-Siegel.

StoryWalks were created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle and Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library.

They are meant to combine movement and literacy and are aimed at people of all ages.

Sharpsburg and Fox Chapel will each have at least six scheduled StoryWalks.

Mariacher said laminated book pages will be affixed to yard signs and spaced through a walking path.

Sharpsburg’s inaugural walk will showcase “All Are Welcome” by Alexandra Penfold. The book follows a group of diverse children on an ordinary school day.

Other books to be featured this year include “Pizza Day” by Melissa Iwai and “Maybe Something Beautiful” by Isabel F. Campoy.

Cooper-Siegel will kick off its StoryWalk series Feb. 15 with Kwame Alexander’s “The Undefeated” to honor Black History Month.

The boards will be set up during daylight hours in the library’s garden and no registration is needed.

Guests must wear masks.

Children’s Librarian Megan Fogt said the site is excited to offer the activity to engage patrons as in-person programs have been limited during the lingering pandemic.

“Offering this combination of reading the pages of a story together while walking through an outdoor space is a great antidote to the screen burnout and restlessness that families are feeling,” Fogt said.