Library to install StoryWalk at Honor Heights Park

Cathy Spaulding, Muskogee Phoenix, Okla.
·3 min read

Aug. 11—Visitors soon could do a little reading while walking through the Honor Heights Park arboretum.

Eastern Oklahoma Library System seeks to set up a book walk along the arboretum's paved trail. The walk, subject to approval by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, would include pages from a children's book posted along the trail.

On Wednesday, the City of Muskogee Parks and Recreation Advisory Board approved the EOLS request to locate the walk at the arboretum.

EOLS Assistant Director Christina Linz said such a walk is "a great way for families to enjoy a book along a trail."

"The book is broken down into 20 separate sections, placed on a child-height park display, so families could walk to the posts," Linz said. "As a value-added activity we can add a recreation board that says 'can you do some jumping jacks,' or 'can you stretch while you touch your toes.'"

Linz said the Oklahoma Department of Libraries approached EOLS about a month ago and expressed a desire to offer a StoryWalk in Muskogee. StoryWalks were created in Montpelier, Vermont, and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and Kellogg Hubbard Library.

Oklahoma has 13 official StoryWalks, including three in the EOLS area — Checotah, Eufaula and Stilwell. Other libraries, such as Grove, have their own version of a book walk, Linz said.

For the proposed Muskogee project, Linz said $8,000 would be provided by the ODL, as well as from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and Oklahoma Department of Health. The Health Department is encouraging an intergenerational involvement, she said.

Muskogee Parks and Recreation Director Mark Wilkerson said he met with EOLS about possible locations for the walk. Wilkerson said Honor Heights, with the Papilion and butterfly house, already is a destination park.

"So it's not just for local but for out-of-town visitors," he said. "The arboretum already gives an educational component to the park. The trees are labeled with their scientific name. It's a beautiful walk with lots of trees for shade. It has a loop with a starting point and ending point."

Linz said EOLS liked the arboretum's trails and shade. She said posts with the trees' scientific names are another plus.

She said that if the state approves the request, EOLS would like to have the project ready by September 2023.

Muskogee Public Library would change the posted books every few weeks, Linz said.

"We have children's librarians who are experts in their area, so we would make it look extra nice," she said.

Parks board members seemed excited about the proposed walk and the way it encourages outdoor activity.

"I think that's one thing that's missing with our kids," board member Samuel Craig said. "I can remember when practically all our activities were outdoors. We weren't cooped up in the house. I think it's a good opportunity to introduce them to nature. Outside is still outside."

Checotah's Jim Lucas Public Library erected a StoryWalk along the Checotah Sports Complex Fitness Trail in May 2020.