April 24, 2026
Community Partnership Brings Storywalk to Riverside Park's Kiddyland!
Board members from the Independence Public Library, Riverside Park, the Lions Club, and the Independence Imagination Library joined forces to create a StoryWalk at Kiddyland in Riverside Park.
A StoryWalk is an interactive, outdoor literacy activity that displays pages of a children's book on mounted signs along a walking path, allowing families to read a story as they walk in nature. It combines physical movement with reading, promoting early literacy, exercise, and family engagement.
Today, the final touches fell into place, and Independence's very own StoryWalk is ready for visitors to enjoy! The story starts at the hippo in Kiddyland, and meanders through the play area to its finish line by the teepees. Independence Public Library and Independence Imagination Library will partner to provide new stories monthly, the very first of which is a Dolly Parton Library Favorite, Corduroy, by Don Freeman. A new story selection will be installed monthly, park opening through Neewollah.
This was a project that started as an idea more than 5 years ago. According to Brandon West, public library employee and current Imagination Library board member, the library purchased the materials for a StoryWalk during the Pandemic. However, the project stalled, and eventually the library donated the materials to the Riverside Park Board. Fast forward several years, the Independence Imagination Library got wind of this opportunity and jumped into action. Knowing that the Lions Club also includes literacy in its mission and that they are passionate about the care and maintenance of Kiddyland in Riverside Park, Imagination Library approached the Lions Club Board and, working with the park board, installed the storywalk posts throughout Kiddyland.
As the final piece of the puzzle, Matt Ysusi, current Imagination Library board member, gathered several of his Edward Jones colleagues to install the Storywalk boxes as their contribution to Love Independence Day. Now that the StoryWalk is complete, when families visit Kiddyland, they'll also be able to read a story together!
All in all, this was a true community partnership of many organizations to create an interactive activity for Independence patrons and visitors.