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New Republic Branch Library Earns Ball Foundation Grant

  • Writer: (cr) Vickie Hicks
    (cr) Vickie Hicks
  • 2 hours ago
  • 1 min read

The Springfield-Greene County Library District has been awarded $8,750 from the Stanley & Elaine Ball Foundation, managed by Central Trust Company, a division of Central Trust Bank. This generous funding will support the installation of a permanent StoryWalkⓇ at the new Republic Branch Library.  A StoryWalkⓇ  is an interactive outdoor literacy experience where pages from a children’s storybook are placed in weatherproof fixtures along an outdoor path, allowing families to read the book page by page.


“The Library Foundation is honored to be among the Stanley & Elaine Ball Foundation’s 2025 grant recipients,” said Development Librarian Katie Hopkins. “This grant will help children in Republic develop crucial literacy skills in a unique and engaging way.”   


To date, the Library District has installed almost 100 temporary StoryWalksⓇ at community partner sites across Greene County. StoryWalksⓇ support vocabulary development, narrative skills, and print awareness in children. They also include prompting questions to help readers engage with the story, increase reading comprehension, and interact with their caregivers. Library staff will be able to curate stories for the walk that reflect districtwide program initiatives or large-scale events happening in the Republic community throughout the entire year.


The Library Foundation is currently fundraising for capital projects at a new Republic Branch Library and at the Hatch Auditorium at the Library Center. Additionally, information on a variety of innovative programs at all 10 branches can be found at foundation.thelibrary.org. 


The StoryWalkⓇ  Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Mountpelier, Vermont, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. StorywalkⓇ is a registered service mark owned by Ferguson. 


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