Point Robinson StoryWalk

StoryWalk enhances Vashon parks

I’m incredulous that anyone would have a problem with the StoryWalk at Point Robinson. It’s only temporary and doesn’t block any views. In fact, it enhances the park.

A similar StoryWalk, this one about salmon, was installed last fall along the Shinglemill Creek trail to Fern Cove. I love this natural area and frequently walk the trail. I noticed how the StoryWalk attracted many more families to the trail and I watched as parents read the story in both Spanish and English to their fascinated children. It was a wonderful way to help people appreciate nature more fully and it taught them how to be respectful of the salmon spawning in the creek.

I applaud our librarians for their initiative in finding yet another innovative way to bring books to our community during a time when the pandemic restricted access to the library. Thanks to the Friends of the Library and local businesses for donating the materials for the installation.

– Jim Diers

Thanks to our librarians

I was so excited to see the photo of the StoryWalk at Point Robinson in this week’s Beachcomber Letters to the Editor section. My thoughts were “good they are doing it again, and what a great location,” remembering the previous StoryWalks at Judd Creek and Fern Cove.

These Story Walks reflect the creative work of our island’s librarians to promote outside reading during the pandemic and are wholly funded by our island’s all-volunteer Friends of the Library organization.

Then I read further and discovered the letter did not support the Point Robinson StoryWalk. I was sad that John and Clare did not find beauty in these signs. With this, my mother’s words surfaced: “We all see things differently,” and “Speak up with positives, not just negatives.”

Every day my husband and I wake up on this island and are thankful to be here, because of the natural beauty and the rich community that has developed. So let me say thank you to our community, first to the librarians who have kept us supplied with books and projects (like StoryWalk) during the pandemic, to the Park district which kept us healthy and safe (especially at the pool), to the Friends of the Library who have supported many wonderful projects, to all the islanders who stop and read the StoryWalk, to all the unsung Vashon heroes (especially during the pandemic), and to John and Clare for helping to remind me it is not just about me – it is about all of us.

– Mary Bergman

StoryWalk is the work of the Vashon community

I was very disappointed to read the letter written by John and Clare van Amerongen objecting to one of the ongoing StoryWalk projects.

Frankly, I thought the letter was at the very least, misinformed and at worst, denigrating to the librarians who spent many long hours creating this project. Unlike the Burma Shave signs that the van Amerongen’s reference in their letter, StoryWalk boards are not part of a gimmicky ad campaign, but stories that connect to the environment in which they are placed.

These projects are short term and are not permanent, and meant to be enjoyed as an enhancement to the surroundings in which people find them.

“Stuck,” the name of the children’s book used in the Pt. Robinson project, is the story of Floyd, a boy who gets his kite stuck in a tree and the hilarious antics that ensue to free the kite.

The whimsical illustrations include a whale and of course, a lighthouse which the librarians knew would speak so brilliantly to the location and the story of the book.

And the timing couldn’t have been more appropriate, as the project was placed in time for the annual Kite Day celebration at the lighthouse. It was a big success for the Vashon Library.

I cannot say if the van Amerongen’s spoke to the Park District or the library to make their concerns known to the people who could have answered their questions or addressed their aspersions about “tax dollars being cast about.” This project and many others created at the library over the years are funded directly by the Vashon community through the nonprofit Vashon Friends of the Library.

I’m not one to write letters to the editor, but as a volunteer for the Vashon Friends of the Library, I witnessed firsthand how dispiriting a letter like the van Amerongen’s can be to the dedicated, hardworking and generous librarians who contribute so much to our Vashon community.

Librarians are known for helping us find answers, perhaps this is where the van Amerongen’s should have first focused their attention.

– Lisa Lucke

Point Robinson StoryWalk has been removed

John and Clare van Amerongen’s June 16 Letter to the Editor described “the installation of a row of Burma Shave-like signs” at Point Robinson, which they strongly objected to and felt was an “insult to nature.”

The signs were a delightful StoryWalk telling of a children’s book about a young boy who got his kite caught in a tree – an inspired partnership between the Vashon Park District and the Vashon Library in celebration of Kite Day at Point Robinson. StoryWalk was an idea conceived by the Library due to COVID as a way to keep kids encouraged to read, even if it had to be outdoors!

The temporary installation was for 45 days, and no taxpayer funds were utilized. Funding was graciously donated by Friends of the Library.

Our collective motive was this: children can fly kites, romp on the beach, breathe in the ocean air – and also take a moment to read. People enjoy parks for a variety of reasons – to “marvel at wildflowers, beach grasses, and osprey” as was indicated by the van Amerongens. Others enjoy a walk with a child while playfully discussing a story.

We have removed the StoryWalk in response to the van Amerongen’s complaint. Please know that we welcome the opportunity to discuss concerns directly before anyone feels the need to write a complaint to The Beachcomber.

– Elaine Ott-Rocheford, Vashon Park District Executive Director