ST. CLAIRSVILLE MAYOR Kathryn Thalman and Library Director Doug Walsh begin a joint project to bring a family-oriented story walk to the community.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Families will soon have a new opportunity for reading and exercising together in St. Clairsville. The public library and city have received a $6,000 grant to create a permanent story walk in the community.

A story walk is a way for children and adults to enjoy reading and the outdoors at the same time. Laminated pages from story books are installed at reading stations along a path.

As visitors stroll the path, they will be directed to the next page of the story. The library has offered several temporary story walks, and they have been very popular.

The city will install the story walk along the easily accessible National Road Bikeway which has received national attention over its 25-year development. Mayor Kathyrn Thalman believes the story walk will be a wonderful addition to the city.

“This project combines the joys of reading and love of the outdoors. This is something that families can share in and do together in our city,” she said.

The featured story on the walk will change periodically, based on the seasons or a theme of interest in the community. The story walk will also display how to enroll a child in the Belmont County Imagination Library, an area program to deliver a free book monthly to children from birth to age 5.

The grant will pay for all materials, a total of $5,861. The library will work with City Public Service Director Jeremy Greenwood to install and maintain the story walk. Library staff will have full responsibility for buying, installing and changing the children’s books every few weeks. Construction materials and the reading stations will be ordered this fall and officials hope to have a grand opening in the spring of 2022.

Library Director Doug Walsh said it was an honor to be one of the 45 libraries in the state selected for this grant.

“This will be the first permanent story walk in our area. We’ve had hundreds of people enjoy the library’s temporary story walk events. We’re excited to work with the City to offer a permanent story walk in our community that will be available for people to read and enjoy all year long,” he said.

About 500 libraries in Ohio were eligible for the grant, which was offered by the national Institute of Museum and Library Services and awarded through the State Library of Ohio.

Library officials said that a story walk fosters a love of reading, and encourages family engagement and a healthy lifestyle.

“We hope families enjoy this story walk for years to come,” Walsh said.

The St. Clairsville Public Library serves 16,400 people in the St. Clairsville-Richland district, as well as visitors from other areas. It is located at 108 West Main Street in downtown St. Clairsville, across from the courthouse. The library can be reached at 740-695-2062 or www.stclibrary.org