In May of 2022, Community Courier readers were invited to take a short drive to enjoy a StoryWalk trail located on the grounds of the arboretum at the Reading Public Museum. The trail, offered by the museum in partnership with Berks County Public Libraries, features laminated pages from storybooks that are attached to metal posts. As visitors walk along the path, they are directed to the next page of the story.

On Aug. 1, Berks County Public Libraires unveiled another StoryWalk trail at Berks Nature, The Nature Place. Children from the Berks Nature Preschool assisted with the unveiling of the StoryWalk at the first signpost, which revealed the cover page of the story.

Following the official unveiling, guests were invited to walk the trail and read "The Last Tree" written by author María Quintana Silva and illustrated by Silvia Álvarez, with Spanish translation by Jon Brokenbrow.

Participants in the ceremony included Stephanie Williams, interim administrator for Berks County Public Libraries; Berks Nature president Kimberly Murphy; Susan Banks, Pennsylvania deputy secretary of education; and Heather Sharpe, director of the Bureau of Library Development, Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

A StoryWalk is a project that was first created by Anne Ferguson and the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vt. The goal for the project is to promote both physical activity and early literacy by combining a children's book with a walking trail.

Williams noted that while StoryWalks have been used around the nation since their creation by Ferguson in 2007, storybook displays debuted in Berks County in 2020. There are now eight permanent and seasonal library StoryWalks within the county, including the Muhlenberg Rail Trail StoryWalk on Railroad Avenue in Temple and the Boyertown Park StoryWalk, located at 417 S. Madison St., Boyertown. All of the locations of the StoryWalk displays can be found at http://www.berkslibraries.org/storywalks.

Plans call for the StoryWalk at Berks Nature to be changed four times per year. "Inside, there are different display boards that we change out," explained Emily Orischak, community relations coordinator for Berks County Public Libraries. "The location of the posts won't change, but the contents inside will."

"Our hope is that individuals and families who visit the beautiful grounds of the Nature Place will enjoy the stories presented at the StoryWalk," said Williams at the unveiling ceremony. "As the seasons change, visitors can come back and read new stories, as the StoryWalk will be updated quarterly."

The StoryWalk at Berks Nature, The Nature Place is located at 575 St. Bernardine St., Reading. It follows the path from the parking lot to the Teaching Garden, which is just under a quarter of a mile. The StoryWalk is open to visitors from dawn to dusk. Visitors are encouraged to plan their visit when the Nature Place is open so that they can also enjoy the center's free programming. The Nature Place is open on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To learn more, visit http://www.berksnature.org/the-nature-place.