Hot on the Trail

When the pandemic shut down libraries across the nation, more people started to think about how they could get the library to people since they couldn’t get people into the library.

“I think that is when this concept became of more interest,” said Jennifer Baird, children’s librarian at the Ohio County Public Library.”

The concept she is talking about is called Storybook Trail. Baird first learned about the program, based on a 2007 copyrighted project called the StoryWalk Project, at a conference this past fall.

“I had never even heard of the program before, but was really excited about the whole idea,” she said. “It allows us to reach families that might not have ever considered coming into the library or those who might not have access to the library.”

The Storybook Trail, which began in December, is available on the walking trails at both the Ohio County Park and the Beaver Dam Park and is geared toward preschool to early elementary school-aged children. Storyboards with each page from a children’s book are displayed for families to read through the trail. There is a different story at each park and they are changed once a month.

Baird said they pick books with vibrant pictures and few words on the pages.

“You want to choose a book that is going to work well as a story walk,” she said.

The Storybook Trail also encourages movement and talking with children as part of the experience. On the top of each storyboard is a way Baird said the library encourages participants to get involved with one of the early literacy good practices: reading talking, playing, singing and writing.

“So, a storybook trail is actually learning through play and it also gives you an opportunity to do talking with your children,” Baird said.

As participants walk the trail they are not only reading the story, there is also an activity to do which could include things like counting, talking about the sights and sounds around them or discussing something on that page of the book.

“One of the great things about the Storybook Trail that we have created is that it gives us the opportunity to highlight some books that families might not pick up,” Baird said.

For example, she said one of the books this month is for Black History Month titled, “Hair Love,” which is about an African American girl dealing with and loving her hair the way it is.

“That is a story that a lot of families might not have thought to pick up,” she said. “This gives us an opportunity to put in a classic or something that allows us to highlight diversity.”