Maumee Valley students to donate lending library to local Metropark

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) - As part of their hands-on learning project, students at Maumee Valley Country Day School are donating a lending library so the community will be able to read a book while enjoying views of the Maumee River.

The lending library, which was built by Maumee Valley’s director of technology, Phil Paskvan, will be unveiled at Middlegrounds Metropark in downtown Toledo on May 24. There will be a ribbon cutting at 9:30 a.m. and afterwards, the students, who are between the ages of 3 and 5, will stock the library with their own donated books that cover a range of titles and age groups.

Maumee Valley says the student-decorated lending library, which is shaped to look like a house, is part of the school’s Passion Project program. Through the project, students explored a research topic through discussions and first-hand experiences.

The younger students faced a twist this year, which was to select a project that helped the community in some way. With help from their teachers, they all came up with the idea through their love of reading and visits to different Metroparks in the area.

“Our Forest School-inspired program already places a lot of emphasis on outdoor learning and experiences,” said Christine Marker, a prekindergarten/junior kindergarten teacher at Maumee Valley. “So a lending library at a public park was a natural fit.”

According to Maumee Valley, the students will also be writing messages inside the lending library books for future readers to enjoy.

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