Library adds new book to Jorgens Park StoryWalk

SCANDINAVIA – The Scandinavia Public Library has a new book featured along its StoryWalk trail at Jorgens Park Preserve.

“The Magical Yet!” was written by Angela DiTerlizzi and illustrated by Lorena Alvarez Gómez. The story focuses on overcoming the frustrations of learning new skills.

“When we’re coming into that period when school’s going to be starting, I usually try to use a book out there that’s going to be targeting that school experience a little bit more,” said Library Director Meredith Miller. “This story is about learning and the frustration that can come about because you’re not learning something as quickly as you might like, and the perseverance that you need to have to keep trying. That’s something that students experience in school, and that’s something that adults experience, too.”

A StoryWalk is an initiative where pages from a book are placed at stations along a walking path, encouraging readers to move from page to page as they walk. The concept was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, Vermont, in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library.

The Jorgens Park StoryWalk operates annually from April through early November and stories are rotated about every three weeks. The Magic Yet! will remain on display through late September. The trail will then feature “Those Darn Squirrels,” followed by “Bob the Vampire Snail” in late October ahead of the park’s annual Halloween Spooktacular.

The Scandinavia Public Library’s StoryWalk follows about a half-mile loop along the northern shore of Silver Lake. The trail begins east of the park’s picnic pavilion and features 19 display boards.

To construct the display panels, the library purchases two brand-new copies of a featured book, which are sliced apart, taped into two-page spreads, and laminated by the regional library system. Featured selections range from classics and award winners to non-fiction books about local wildlife, such as monarch butterflies and the park’s resident ospreys.

Visitors are asked to sign the trail’s official logbook before leaving. Miller said the library uses the logbook to track attendance, which is reported annually to the state and helps determine county funding allocations.

Recorded attendance reached 500 visitors in 2024 and 200 in 2025, with guests coming from as far away as California, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York City, as well as from the local area.

The preserve land was originally bequeathed by Carsten Jorgens jointly to four community organizations before the Friends of Jorgens Park Preserve group acquired it to establish the nature preserve and generate an endowment for the library.

The local StoryWalk initiative began in 2016. The trail was named “Walk with Donnie” to honor Donnie Jensen, a former board member for both the Scandinavia Public Library and the Friends of Jorgens Park Preserve, who passed away that year.

“Whether it’s families spending time together or even people out walking their dogs, everybody just seems to love it,” Miller said. “It gives them an excuse to go to the park and brings back that spark and joy of childhood, promoting reading and learning throughout people’s lives.”