Thanks so much for all of the great responses to my "what do you do with a library park" question! Several people asked to see the results so I'm sharing them, below: - Last year, we added a Gaga ball pit on the lot to encourage any one of any age to get outside and exercise. This also went well with the SRP theme "On your Mark, Get set, Read!" Kids and families use it often in good weather. We keep a ball at the library for use when we are open. We used money donated and designated for Youth by an individual. - We own the property – the whole neighborhood has access. So far we’ve only used it for gardening classes, butterfly garden planting classes, nature photography classes. We also have our little free library in it – along with paths and a bench. For us – it just beautifies the lot where a church was torn down in front of our library. But, our city naturalist has found it useful for programs that we sponsor with him as listed above. - Last spring we partnered with our Township Dept. of Parks & Rec to install a StoryWalk® in a park in the library neighborhood. It was a fun and successful project and will continue again this summer. - We got a grant a couple of years ago to make a butterfly garden - Our library/township office is on a nature preserve and surrounded by a large trail system. While that may not be your situation, I will share some things we've done (the Township also) that the public has responded positively to and could be replicated on a smaller scale 1) Native Gardening - We have become recognized for planting only native Michigan plant species which has even led to an endangered butterfly living on our grounds. We hold a workshop about it yearly. This year we are hosting Drew Lathin from sustainable landscapes http://www.creatingsustainablelandscapes.com/ He's going to talk about landscaping with native plants. 2) Storybook Trail - In partnership with the Parks n Rec dept. we have basically put up plexiglass sign holders along the trail walkway and they show each page of a storybook so that you have to walk the whole trail in order to read the whole story. Kids get excited to run down the trail and find page 2, etc. - We have a beautiful park on library property. The local Rotary club planted and maintains the garden. We cut the grass and pay for the water that goes through our sprinkling system. The city empties the trash receptacles and installed and maintains the lights. Rotary pays about $4,500 a year to keep the garden weeded. They sell brick pavers to cover that cost. http://www.rochesterrotaryclub.org/Stories/rotary-gateway-park Our library has another beautiful garden in our "backyard". We paid for the garden when we opened the library and have five volunteer gardeners that maintain it. Their fearless leader is a master gardener. - At the Genesee District Library’s Headquarters building we developed a part of our lawn area into a reading garden with the help of our local MSU Master Gardener’s program. The Master Gardeners received a grant and did all the work of planning/designing and planting the garden areas. They put in a brick paved path leading to the reading area and fencing to separate the garden from the parking lot. Through donations and some of the grant money they planted a wide variety plants: hostas, roses, irises, hydrangea bush, etc. GDL gift funds provided the cement benches for sitting. The gardener’s come and perform routine maintenance on the plants/gardens every spring and fall. Sometime this spring, they will be putting in a compost bin towards the back of our property. They will teach our staff on how they can help add to the compost bin. We will have a program with them for the public on the benefits of composting at home. It’s a win-win for us and for the people going through the Master Gardner program! - The garden is there for our patrons to sit and read on nice days, use it when they want/need to talk on their cell phones, and story hours for kids in the summer. We have used it as over-flow seating area for our outdoor jazz concert by the group Straight Ahead. We will most likely use it for the composting program later this year. - - See if there is a master gardener group in the area. They might be willing to put in some display / learning plots or take care of things like the butterfly garden. - - If it is right by the library you might look at lending out yard games, maybe even on the hourly basis so you have a good chance of parts not going missing. Things like bocce, kubb, lawn bowling, etc. Our giant jenga (can't be named that) has been really popular and if you know a carpenter you could build yourself: http://www.aadl.org/catalog/record/1493380 - - If you have a larger park then you might look at getting a grant for a small pavilion on one end for performances or outside story times. You can also hang a sheet and do movie nights. Think I've seen one place that rented to local music artists as a venue to help pay for upkeep but you'd have to decide if that fits. - Our library has a park next to it. It's a wonderful asset. We have held yoga classes, Easter egg hunts, teddy bear picnics, Pokemon walks, summer reading activities, and more in the park. It's great to see storytime families extend their time together by going for a picnic lunch and play in the park after storytime. Ours has a 1/3 mile paved walking path that is nice to use during good weather. I go out there for a quick walk to clear the cobwebs out of my brain occasionally. -- Sharon Crotser-Toy Director *Watervliet District Library* 333 N. Main Street Watervliet, MI 49098 269-463-6382 Connects People, Inspires Ideas, Transforms Lives