The St. Patrick’s Day StoryWalk concluded in downtown Hope on Saturday. The StoryWalk, a collaboration between the Hope Downtown Network and the Hempstead County Library, provided family entertainment while simultaneously attracting patrons to Hope’s historic business district.

With assistance from the Southwest Arkansas Education Cooperative, the library team enlarged and laminated pages from The Leprechaun’s Gold by Pamela Duncan Edwards. The pages were then displayed in storefront windows throughout downtown on St. Patricks Day. When participants read each page, they also received the destination to the next storefront window featuring the following section of the story. This reading treasure hunt allowed families to stroll the sidewalks together reading a holiday story and exploring the shops of downtown Hope.

This is just the first of many StoryWalks to come. Courtney McNiel, from the Hempstead County Library, explained that this joint effort between the library and downtown will provide future StoryWalks, featuring books about various holidays or events, in a continuing effort to get more Hope citizens engaged in positive community activities and the growth of local businesses. “Any time the library can get involved with events in the community and downtown, we’re all for it!" McNiel said.