The Joy of Reading Meets the Joy of Walking and Rolling
StoryWalk® combines the love of reading with the joy of physical activity. StoryWalk® projects display the pages of a children’s book along a designated route that is accessible to the community. People can read the story as they walk, bike, or roll along the route. StoryWalks are installed at parks, schools, libraries, trails, and even storefront windows. Each StoryWalk® display is unique, from the location to the materials to the featured book. These fun, creative projects are encouraging physical activity in small towns, large cities, and everywhere in between.
StoryWalk® was created in 2007 by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont in collaboration with Rachel Senechal, and is a registered trademark of Kellogg-Hubbard Library.
StoryWalk® with a Safe Routes Twist
The Safe Routes StoryWalk® project was inspired by a growing movement to enhance safety and access to public libraries. Libraries, like schools, are essential community destinations that serve a diverse population. A visit to the library is not just about checking out books. Traveling to a library safely increases access to essential services, especially in low-income communities and communities of color. Libraries offer everything from family movie nights to tax filing assistance to vaccinations – all at no cost to visitors. Libraries also welcome visitors from all backgrounds, making it a prime location for public participation and engagement in traffic safety initiatives.
Across the country, libraries and transportation professionals have been teaming up to increase safety along library routes. This includes inviting library staff to participate in transportation planning processes, using library meeting rooms for public meetings, and implementing infrastructure projects around libraries. Libraries are also playing a role in promoting safe road behaviors. Safe Routes programs are hosting bike rodeos in library parking lots. Library bike mobiles are attending Walk and Roll to School Day celebrations. StoryWalk® projects are popping up, elevating the importance of pedestrian and bicycle safety, and providing a point of community connectedness.
The Safe Routes StoryWalk® takes the traditional StoryWalk® concept and adds a unique element – traffic safety messages geared toward different road users. The Safe Routes Partnership received a grant from the District of Columbia Highway Safety Office to pilot a safety-themed StoryWalk® at local libraries. To our knowledge, the Safe Routes StoryWalk® project is the first of its kind. We began this project with many questions, having never done a StoryWalk® but being excited about the idea. How can we collaborate with libraries to engage the public? What would a traffic safety story look and sound like? How can we create a StoryWalk® that represents the local community and honors the importance of public libraries? Who do we need to engage to bring this StoryWalk® to life?
We partnered with library staff, visitors, local artists, and community organizations to create two safety-themed StoryWalk® projects in Washington, DC. A year of partnership building, public participation and engagement, and collaborative planning resulted in Safe Routes StoryWalk® installations at Benning Library in Ward 7 and Bellevue Library in Ward 8. DC’s Wards 7 and 8 encompass predominately Black neighborhoods that are disproportionately impacted by traffic fatalities and serious injuries, according to the City’s Vision Zero data. The Safe Routes StoryWalk® aims to meet three goals: 1) Encourage walking, biking, and rolling to the library, 2) Reduce traffic fatalities and serious injuries, and 3) Promote safe walking, biking, rolling, and driving behaviors. Both installations feature artwork inspired by the people and places in the neighborhood, accentuated by traffic safety messages written in verse. The whimsical yet educational display reflects our desire to make traffic safety fun, accessible, and relevant to people of all ages.
Urban libraries are essential because they provide free access to information, resources, and services that support education, career development, and community engagement. They bridge the digital divide: About 10% of Americans don't have internet access at home, and libraries often provide free internet and computer access.
- Ashley Mitchell, Branch Manager, Benning Library
Five Reasons to Partner with Public Libraries
Let's work together!
- Libraries welcome everyone, including people who experience barriers to public participation (people with disabilities, older adults, children , unhoused individuals)
- Libraries care about traffic safety, with many providing bikeshare docks, bike repair stations, bike racks, and bike lending services
- Libraries increase capacity to engage children and families at a time when schools are overwhelmed
- Libraries offer FREE places to host meetings and public events
- Library staff are friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable about the community
Looking to attract more visitors to your outreach table? Make a Creation Station!
A Creation Station is a welcoming space to spark meaningful community conversations. They are adaptable to different audiences, settings, activities, and Safe Routes topics. Here are a few Creation Station components that are suitable for library outreach:
- Butcher paper
- Art supplies
- Safe Routes themed bookmarks
- Safe Routes themed buttons
- Walk, Ride, and Roll zines
- Coloring sheets
- Glow-in-the-Dark friendship bracelet materials
Pro Tip: Creation Stations don't have to be expensive. Stock up on supplies at your local dollar store!
Make New Friends, and Keep the Old
Safe Routes StoryWalk® reunited us with longtime friends and introduced us to new community partners. We have been working alongside Safe Kids DC and Seasoned Settlers for over six years to improve traffic safety in Wards 7 and 8. Together, we have spread safety messages to schools and families, organized safety events, and worked with District agencies to bring about much-needed infrastructure improvements. We are a bit of a dream team, and this project was no different. After a pause in engagement due to the pandemic, we picked up right where we left off with a new round of traffic safety activities. It felt good to be back!
Benning Library visitors created bike safety bookmarks and buttons during our "Crafting and Conversation" sessions.
Bellevue Library visitors participated in traffic safety demonstrations with Seasoned Settlers and Safe Kids DC.
We love to share! Check out some of our downloadable community engagement activities.
Finding the Right Fit
We did not begin this project with a StoryWalk® artist in mind, though we were not concerned. DC is filled with talented people who create beautiful art. But who could capture the community's vibrancy, pair it with family-friendly traffic safety messages, and authentically engage people of all ages at our library outreach events? Rebecca Crouch was introduced to us by the Bellevue Library branch manager. She has a distinct background as a brilliant artist and a former DC elementary school principal. In fact, the school where she worked is right down the street from Benning Library. She knew how to connect with children and caregivers, she knew the community, and was the perfect fit. Rebecca joined us for outreach events at both libraries, where she chatted with visitors and explored the space. Then, she was off to create!
Rebecca painted over a dozen pieces of original artwork for our Safe Routes StoryWalk® pages. For the text, we collaborated on a series of short poems about safety, community, and lots of public library love. The StoryWalk® chronicles the many ways we journey to the library, from riding bikes to taking transit. Safety messages are woven throughout, reminding people to buckle seatbelts, look both ways, fasten helmets, and wait for the signal before crossing. The artwork reflects the people in the neighborhood about Benning Library and Bellevue Library – brown faces, curly puffs of hair, children reading on the bus, families walking into the library. The StoryWalk is a beautiful display of what happens when we care for one another and how we all play a role in keeping our roads safe.
Learn more about Safe Routes StoryWalk artist Rebecca Crouch at www.signedrachelrebecca.com
Taking the Next Step
The Safe Routes StoryWalk® reflects our commitment to advancing transportation equity. We installed our StoryWalks in the nation’s capital, in neighborhoods that are being disproportionately impacted by traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Wards 7 and 8 are not unlike other communities across the country that carry the legacy of transportation inequity on every street corner. While we are heartened by the efforts of our many partners to improve safety and accessibility, we know there is more work to be done. StoryWalk projects and partnerships with public libraries are one way to continue to move the needle. Libraries are some of the only public spaces that genuinely welcome everyone, including our most vulnerable road users like children, older adults, people with disabilities, and unhoused community members. We will continue to engage our library partners while encouraging others to do so and look to the library as an effective space for public participation and engagement in traffic safety. We will also continue finding ways to infuse fun, joy, and culturally relevant activities in our engagement efforts.
For our Safe Routes and transportation partners, we encourage you to check out the following resources about partnering with public libraries:
For our library partners, you can find more about Safe Routes to School and other traffic safety initiatives through the following resources:
Benning Library StoryWalk®
3935 Benning Rd NE, Washington, DC 20019
Bellevue Library StoryWalk®
115 Atlantic St SW, Washington, DC 20032