Universities are often described as institutions of higher learning where professors prep the future leaders of tomorrow, but thanks to the new StoryWalk installation at MacEwan University, they’re spaces where kids can learn, too.
Starting at the university’s 107th Street entrance, StoryWalk is an interactive installation that takes visitors on a self-guided loop of the MacEwan campus and — as the name suggests — a story book. The self-guided tour covers 18 stops in total, with each stop displaying a single page of the currently featured children’s book. And while a campus teeming with 20-somethings might seem like an odd place to promote early childhood literacy, for StoryWalk Organizer and Associate Professor Ozlem Cankaya, the location couldn’t be better.
“Once [students] come through these doors to attend their classes, it’s already quite late in terms of helping them develop that sense of belonging at the university,” says Cankaya, whose research focuses on childhood cognitive development and play. “I want children to be able to come here and be met with new ideas early on so that they can feel good about being in the university environment later on.”
StoryWalk was first conceived in 2007 by Vermont-based librarian Anne Ferguson and has since been replicated by book lovers around the world. The project’s global success has a lot to do with its simplicity: All you need to do is pick a book, carefully dismantle it (the registered copyright requires all installations to be free to the public and feature original book pages) and display the pages along your route of choice. Cankaya stumbled upon her first StoryWalk while visiting Vancouver Island and since then has been working to adapt the idea to the MacEwan campus.
“We went the extra mile to make [our StoryWalk] extra handsome and sturdy, but it can be done in pretty much any style,” says Cankaya, referring to the specially designed display cases that make up the MacEwan StoryWalk. They are built low to the ground to be accessible to little readers, out of the way of any rush-hour crowds and tough enough to withstand sticky fingers and spilled coffees.
The MacEwan StoryWalk opened this past June with a public showcase and a feature of the children’s book Walking Together, by Elder Albert D. Marshall and Louise Zimany. Indigenous children’s book authors were featured throughout the summer with subsequent installations of Be a Good Ancestor, by Leona and Gabrielle Prince and When We Were Alone, by David A. Robertson.
“The first couple of books that we chose were by Indigenous authors because we were looking for land-based teachings, but after this, we are thinking about a book on children’s rights,” Cankaya says. “We want to choose books that reflect the diversity of our community and the inspiration that we would like to provide.”
Cankaya is also quick to highlight the team that has helped bring the StoryWalk to life, including her project co-lead and MacEwan librarian Lindsey Whitson and the team of students and faculty members that manage the project’s branding, budget and logistics. A $50,000 Downtown Vibrancy Grant from the City of Edmonton also helped ensure that the project isn’t just viable, but sustainable in the long-term.
“We’re hoping that there will be many years [of StoryWalk] to come and one day we will celebrate the 50th book or 100th book,” Dr. Cankaya says. “What we want is for all children to come to MacEwan and feel at home. And for a community that at times might be a little divided, we want them to be able to unite here.”
