Story walks are coming to a few of Mount Vernon’s parks and trails throughout the rest of the year.
Cole Library director Cathy Boggs and library assistant Jen Stanerson presented the idea at the May 15 city council meeting.
The first book to be part of the story walks will be “Creekfinding,” written by local author Jacqueline Briggs Martin and will follow a path from Nature Park to Underhill Skate Park.
“That trail connecting the two parks follows alongside a creek as well, so it felt really fitting,” Stanerson said.
Stanerson said they have plans for other story walks in other portions of the city, with “The Leaf Thief” being proposed for Memorial Park later this fall and “The Pigeon Has to go to School” to be featured somewhere in August. The first story walk also features narration by Mount Vernon sixth grade students if people scan the QR codes on the signs.
Story walks are not new for the community. Lisbon Public Library has hosted a number of story walks along trails and uptown businesses for the past several years.
Boggs and Stanerson said the goal are to get people walking and experiencing these parks and trails, while also giving families and young readers something to take part in during a walk out in nature.
“We do know that these story pages may provide some landscaping hardships for city crews when they are up,” Stanerson said. “We think the end goal of more people on these trails and in these parks is worth the headache of mowing around the placards along these trails.”
Boggs and Stanerson had approached city administrator Chris Nosbisch before rolling this program out.
The first batch of signs have been installed this week and will be up for several weeks this summer before the book and signs change for the next location.