One of the first posts of the StoryWalk at La Grande's Riverside Park greenway thanks all of the sponsors who have helped cover the costs of books, shown here on Nov. 15, 2024. The StoryWalk is kept going through local sponsorships, which help cover the cost of the book and lamination.

LA GRANDE — Sometimes there is a silver lining to be found when something bad happens.

This was something the staff at Cook Memorial Library witnessed firsthand after the StoryWalk along La Grande’s Riverside Park greenway was vandalized this month. After posting online about the temporary closure, the library received an outpouring of support from the community.

“That’s been a silver lining,” said Mackenzie Isaak, the library’s director of children’s services, “seeing how much people care about the StoryWalk.”

The StoryWalk was installed along the greenway in 2020. Isaak said there has been some vandalism in the past, but it’s usually been fairly minimal.

This time, however, seven of the 20 plexiglass panels were cracked beyond repair, according to Library Director Carrie Bushman. Staff were alerted to the damage upon returning to work following the weekend through a voicemail message a patron left on Nov. 10.

“People are looking out for” the StoryWalk, Bushman said. “They love it.”

La Grande Parks and Recreation and the La Grande Police Department were notified of the damage, according to the library director.

Bushman said it’s not clear what exactly was used to break the plexiglass — it might have been a BB gun or a rock — but the seven panels were located in the middle section of the StoryWalk.

StoryWalks display separate pages of a book along a walking trail, bike path or other route as a way to simultaneously promote reading and exercise. La Grande’s StoryWalk features 20 posts for pages along the greenway.

Library staff prepare the books in-house and then volunteers update the pages along the pathway, Isaak said. Local sponsors help cover the cost of the book and lamination each month.

Isaak said the library doesn’t take sponsorships or put up new stories in December or January because the pathway is less used during the winter, and snow can make the panels unreadable.

Since the November book had only been in the StoryWalk for a short period before the vandalism, Isaak said the sponsor will get a free month next year. The goal is to have the StoryWalk ready for use again by February or March 2025.

It will cost around $600 to replace the broken panels, based on previous estimates, the library director said.

It can be difficult to get a sense of how many people use the StoryWalk, Isaak said, since it’s located in a public area and so, unlike other services provided by the library, there is no way to track the metrics.

However, she said, the community made it clear how much they love the StoryWalk after the library posted about the vandalism and the closure.

Both Bushman and Isaak said the outpouring of support from the community since learning about the vandalism has been phenomenal. Many people have reached out wanting to know how they can help.

Isaak said people also have reached out to offer in-kind donations like supplies or labor. While the library is grateful for these offers, it cannot accept them because it uses a special StoryWalk vendor. (The panels come from a company called Barking Dog Exhibits.)

Bushman said that anyone who wishes to donate toward the cost of replacing the panels can do so by visiting the Cook Memorial Library, 2006 Fourth St. in La Grande.

People can also donate via credit card over the phone (541-962-1339) if they are comfortable doing so.

If more funds are raised than needed to replace the broken plexiglass, Bushman said the library would set aside the money for any future StoryWalk repairs.