It Starts with a Square

Holiday StoryWalk at the Collierville Library

BY Regan Hewitt

For the holiday season, the Collierville Burch Library has added a new StoryWalk® installation to the lake path in Halle Park on 500 Poplar View Parkway. 

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg is just waiting for children to come and explore! The StoryWalk® is a unique way to enjoy reading and the outdoors at the same time. Signs around the Halle Park lake display each page of the story as well as questions and movement activities to engage in conversation and promote exercise. There are 20 total signs to follow around the lake trail, which is just under one’s mile distance. The signs are numbered with the first starting east of the parking lot behind the Library. 

There are also currently plans for a second winter installation featuring The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. These StoryWalk® installations are not only a socially distanced friendly activity, but will continue as a permanent display in the bark. The library staff hopes to feature five books over the course of the year – one person season, plus a special one for the holidays. 

Library staff first began creating temporary StoryWalks® in windows of several businesses on the Collierville Town Square. Since the community enjoyed them,  they decided to create a permanent installation. Lisa Plath, director of the Collierville Burch Library, said, “We are very excited to offer this type of programming for the Collierville community. It is a fun way for families to enjoy literature in the outdoors.” 

The StoryWalk® installation at Halle Park was created through the generous support of the Friends of the Collierville Burch Library. For further information on the StoryWalk® please contact the Library at 901-457-2601 or visit their website at colliervillelibrary.org.  

The StoryWalk® Project was first created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library. More information here: kellogghubbard.org/storywalk

September/October 2021 Tour Collierville Magazine