Nicholas Huenefeld | Editor-in-Chief

The staff at Genoa Branch Library has brought StoryWalk to Genoa’s Veterans Memorial Park, where families can jump into the wonders of the literary world while exploring nature.

StoryWalk is a fun and innovative way for children — and adults — to enjoy reading and the outdoors at the same time. Laminated pages from a children’s book are inserted into a covered display marker along the North Coast Inland Trail to the new playground by the baseball fields.

Makenna Flores, who is the marketing director for the Genoa Branch Library, said the activity helps provide another outlet for local families with young children to enjoy what the library has to offer while outdoors.

“In our community especially, we have a lot of young families, and when I say young families, I mean early 20s, and they’re just starting out,” she said. “There’s been a lot of renovations at the park happening. There’s always baseball games and soccer games, so it’s really nice to be able to bring the library outside to the park, away from our actual building because there’s a lot of people who don’t actually like to come in.

“There’s people who still think you only go to the library to read. But that’s not the case. This really helps bring an interactive element to families in our community in terms of reading and just having fun — and (it gets) our name out there, too.”

The StoryWalk, which was an idea originally created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vt. and developed with the help of Rachel Senechal of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library, came to Genoa through a grant from the Ottawa County Park District and a memorial fund for Georgiana Huizenga, who was the former director of the Harris-Elmore Public and Genoa Branch libraries from 1990-2011. She dreamed of a time when both communities could one day have a StoryWalk for children to learn during play.

“Through the fund and the grant, we were able to bring it to Genoa,” Flores said. “And I believe that Elmore should be getting one in a few years, as well. We just wanted to bring that here in her memory.”

Flores said the plan is to change out the content along the StoryWalk either monthly or bi-monthly.

“We also are hoping to bring some interactive stuff,” she said. “We’ll have little activities on each page so let’s say in the (August) book ‘Ricky, the Rock that Couldn’t Roll’ … well, you’ll roll or you’ll jump and hop and skip and all that good stuff. We’re hoping to buy some copies to have here at the library, as well as the actual book, so that people can check out the book and not just have to read it out at the park, especially in the colder months.

“We’re very, very excited to bring it to Genoa and the community. We’ve seen some excitement from some of our patrons already, so we’re just really happy.”

Community members, businesses and organizations have the option to sponsor a story for $75, which provides three copies of the chosen book: two for the StoryWalk and one for the collection for borrowing. Sponsors will have a dedication placed on the first display along with the book cover.

The StoryWalk is said to provide several benefits: early literacy opportunities to young children, a teaching moment for a child’s first teacher — their family, and a wonderful avenue for outreach and collaboration.

“We are thrilled to partner with the Ottawa County Park District to bring our collection into the heart of the community in a new way,” Genoa Branch Library Manager Meghan Parker said. “Even if you’ve never stepped foot in a library, you can still enjoy part of our collection in the great outdoors.”

For more information about the StoryWalk®, visit: https://www.harriselmorelibrary.org/story-walk. You can also contact the library at 419-855-3380.