With Library ‘Storywalks,’ Kids Can Stroll and Read
Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative employees setting up the posts for the outdoor reading stations. (Photos courtesy of the Leonardtown Rotary Club)
Patrons at the Leonardtown and Charlotte Hall libraries will soon be able to stroll through a series of outdoor reading stations for children. The storywalks are brought to the community by the Leonardtown Rotary Club, in partnership with the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative and St. Mary’s County Library.
Readers will be able to walk from station to station, where the pages of books are displayed. As they move, the story progresses from beginning to end. The stories are picture books aimed at beginning readers. Children can walk with their families to have fun, enjoy the outdoors, get a bit of exercise, and, above all, engage in vital early childhood literacy.
The weather-resistant covers keep the pages dry. The ground covered is generally flat, and the walks are only about 100 yards long, ensuring a pleasant but not exhausting walk.
The storywalk at Charlotte Hall is along the nearby county multi-use trail, while the one at Leonardtown is by the garden in front of the library. They are set to open May 11.
Rotary Club members Alison Robinson, left, and Robin Finnacom help install the outdoor storywalks.
“I’m so very grateful to Rotary for the funding for this $10,000 project,” said Michael Blackwell, library director. “It came from Leonardtown Rotary with a match from Rotary District 7620. I’m grateful, too, to the Rotarians who help with installing the weather-resistant reading acrylics. The project could not have been completed, however, without our partners at SMECO. They made the heavy work of the post installations go quickly and smoothly, saving lots of back-breaking labor. They are great community partners!”
“Supporting education is one of the seven pillars of Rotary,” said Barbara Thompson, Leonardtown Rotary Foundation president. “We are delighted to work with the library to help foster life-long learning from an early age on.”
“SMECO was happy to lend its equipment and the skills of its outdoor workers to build the storywalk,” said Sonja Cox, president and CEO of SMECO. “The cooperative has a long tradition of supporting education in Southern Maryland, and the project will ensure that libraries are places of learning both outside and in.”
Leonardtown Rotary Club is a participating club in Rotary International. As defined, “Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world.”
SMECO – The Cooperative Difference
SMECO was incorporated in 1937 and is one of the 15 largest electric cooperatives in the United States with more than 170,000 member accounts in Charles County, St. Mary’s County, southern Prince George’s County, and most of Calvert County.
Electric cooperatives are shaped by the communities they serve, because co-ops are owned by their customers. Co-op members elect the men and women who serve on the Board of Directors. Members share the responsibility of ownership by financing the cooperative’s operations, but they also share its rewards.
At the end of each year, SMECO’s margins (profits) are allocated to members’ capital credit accounts. SMECO uses its profits to invest in new construction, system improvements, and facility upgrades. The Board of Directors regularly evaluates the financial condition of the co-op and determines when members will receive a refund. Since 1937, SMECO has refunded more than $128 million.
As a cooperative, SMECO will always put its members first and be responsive, reliable, and resourceful—the power you can count on.
Follow SMECO on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SMECO.coop and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/somdelectric.
The SMECO 24/7 mobile app is available at www.smeco.coop/247. To learn more about SMECO, visit its Leader Member Page.
