Story Garden

“Story Garden is less about the story books the facilitators bring and more about the stories people carry with them when they come to the space.”

— Karen Stornelli, New Mexico Team Director 

 
 

Story Gardens vary as much as the people who take part in them. The basics always include comfortable, colorful outside settings, a communal time of reading and stories, and an activity promoting discovery, highlighting skills, and encouraging creative expression. Trained facilitators offer quality books, puzzles, art activities, and other educational resources free to families who are mostly low-income and have little access to uplifting educational programs and supportive social environments. All children in the community are invited, with a special effort being made to reach those with difficulties. 

Story Gardens, also called Street Libraries, take place all over the world. ATD Fourth World USA currently runs Story Gardens near Gallup, New Mexico, and in the Brownsville neighborhood in New York City. 

 

*Festivals of Arts and Learning are run during the summer in Story Garden locations and other neighborhoods.

Phase 1: Reach out & Be present

"Our frame of mind was not simply about running a program, but about joining a community."

— Karen Stornelli, New Mexico Team Director

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When the Story Garden in the Gallup Flea Market began, the vendor in the space across the way observed the facilitators talking with everyone: management, staff, custodians, vendors, visitors, parents, and children. In the five-year Story Garden evaluation, this vendor said this outreach was what impressed her the most. The frame of mind of the Story Garden facilitators is not simply about running a program, but about joining a community.

Story Gardens are always run in partnership with people who live where they take place and in response to their needs and strengths, reinforcing the efforts made by members of that community and cultivating deep, long-lasting relationships.

Story Gardens almost always take place outside, where they are visible to everyone. Facilitators set up at the same time every week no matter the weather. They make sure everyone feels invited, which often means knocking on everyone's doors and including those who may not yet have participated.

The facilitators rely on input and support from parents and other community members. As they develop those relationships, they support the relationships the adults have with their children. The facilitation team invests heavily in preparation, outreach, and reflective practice. Individual writing and team debriefings form the basis of this reflective process, deepening the team's own learning and inspiring program choices.

"We start with core principles, rather than an action plan: Learn. Build relationships. Show we are going to stick it out, that we are going to be there with everybody. We create a space where action ideas come from the community, leaving more room for the community to guide things in a direction that makes sense for them." — Story Garden Facilitator

 

Phase 2: Build individual capacity & community

"Story Garden gives children a choice. It helps them to realize that they can think outside the box and use their imagination."

— Grandparent of a Story Garden participant

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In the community space that is created by Story Garden and with the focus on creative expression, children who may not be doing well in school can learn what they are capable of, that books are indeed for them, that creative "outside-the-box" thinking can be applied to everything, including math homework, for example.

Story Gardens help children with:

  • Social and emotional development
  • Cognitive and intellectual development
  • Creativity, curiosity and imagination
  • Opening a window to the world

Beyond what the children gain, Story Gardens also support learning as a family process. A grandmother of a child in Story Garden became motivated to learn to read and write herself so she could accompany her grandchildren as they learn. Parents watch the facilitators model patience and attention.

Story Gardens bring families:

  • Positive interactions
  • Pride among family members
  • Parental support
  • The fostering of agency
  • A strengthening of family ties during parent–child separation
  • Volunteer facilitators who enrich their families

Story Gardens also help build the community by forming relationships with schools, libraries, art schools, and local authorities. Festivals of Arts and Learning are run during the summer in Story Garden locations and other neighborhoods. The festivals include multiple days of activities focused on bringing out skills in the community and building partnerships. They also reveal the talents of the parents so they can share them with the community.

Story Gardens build community by offering:

  • Safe, positive spaces
  • Relaxed, friendly atmospheres
  • Interaction across generations and languages
  • Chances for struggling families to be seen in a positive light

Story Garden facilitators learn from and with the community. "I don't want to build our knowledge just with people who already speak well and have all of their thoughts clear. We'd be missing something. Story Garden enables a space where gestures, observing, touching, trying, a little bit of talking can all fit together. People can choose how they want that to fit together. It's an ideal space for that." — Karen Stornelli, New Mexico Team Director

 

Phase 3: Change the narrative

“I've seen several people come to Story Garden that I've seen around town. When you look at a person, you think, 'They probably don't spend time with their children,' and automatically you'll judge them by how you've seen them talk to their kids in the store.

“But it isn't really like that when you actually get to meet the person and you see them at Story Garden. You see a different side of somebody. It's really amazing how you could see other people just come and join their kids—even if they're busy or just don't have the time in the world—they still come to interact with their children. And I think you guys have done that a lot for other people and it's really amazing."

— Volunteer Story Garden Facilitator

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With the strengthening of both children's and adults' capacities through Story Garden and the development of solidarity and knowledge about the community, Story Gardens become a first stepping stone for people with first-hand experience of poverty to advocate for themselves and their communities. Hundreds of Story Garden participants, both youth and adults, have gone on to speak at local, municipal, national, and international meetings and events where they represent their communities, bearing witness to their struggles, strength, and dignity, and advocating for their rights.

Story Gardens also change the narrative about poverty in the immediate community and with the participants themselves. When parents take on responsibilities at Story Garden, their children can see them as people who can do things for others and support others, as fuller and more capable parents. Also, because of the visibility of Story Gardens, the community can see parents differently when they are interacting with their children, which is especially impactful for adults who may not be well respected.

Story Gardens change the narrative children have of themselves by believing in them and showing them their own capabilities. They learn about their own identity through the stories and through art. "I am an artist," said one boy, with conviction, in the Brownsville Story Garden, proud of his own work of art. Their identity in Story Garden counters the identity often put on them as "underperforming" children who live in "disadvantaged" neighborhoods.

Parents say they are amazed to see the children stay focused in Story Garden when their teachers say they can't stay still.

 

Phase 4: Grow our reach with activism

"I met a grandfather. He just opened up and said he's also raising his grandkids. Then I said, 'We'll bring Street Library to the neighborhood.' He said: 'That would be good. That would be good.' The neighbors are excited. I got the feeling they're willing to help if we get to know them a little better."

— Esther Rodriquez, Grandmother & Story Garden Facilitator

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By being so visible, Story Gardens lead to new participants, new partnerships, and new Story Gardens. The facilitators are observed by all and seen as people who get their hands dirty, who respect the community, and who can be trusted.

Young people and adults from the community who take on responsibilities at Story Garden, and especially those who become activists and advocates for the community, are always introducing new people to Story Garden and to other work of ATD Fourth World. Their own community relationships lead to new opportunities and partners. They often know where Story Garden is needed most.

The ultimate success of a Story Garden (or Street Library) is when it's not needed any more. This is what happened with the Street Library in the Ocean Hill neighborhood of New York City, which ended after fourteen years when the Street Library was no longer providing services that the community couldn't provide itself. The tenant association was inspired by Street Library to open the community center so that children could go to Street Library in the winter without sitting in the freezing lobbies. It now runs activities itself. The tenant association president spoke at the United Nations with ATD Fourth World about the poor relationship with the police in the neighborhood and afterwards felt empowered to develop a relationship with the local precinct. Now the precinct regularly has officers getting involved with all that is going on in the neighborhood, not just showing up when called, as before. Street Library came to Ocean Hill when there wasn't much going on there and now the community has mobilized. Although ATD Fourth World currently has no regular programs at Ocean Hill, participants and community leaders from the Story Garden remain reference points for the New York team and beyond.