On Saturday, Oct. 3, the Ormond Memorial Art Museum & Gardens hosted a free family event built around books. The Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia’s annual Storybook Village brought together hands-on activities, interactive storytime, a scavenger hunt and crafts, according to a report by the Ormond Beach Observer. Children also had the chance to leave with a book: Coalition volunteers distributed additional titles and let children choose one to bring home.
The museum’s event listing scheduled Storybook Village from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and described it as a free, family-friendly celebration of books. Families were invited to take part in activities inspired by children’s stories, spend time together and bring books home for their own shelves. A post-event report confirmed the gathering took place Oct. 3 at the museum and gardens. The museum lists the venue at 78 East Granada Boulevard in Ormond Beach. The museum and the coalition both described take-home books as a way to build family libraries and keep reading going after the event. Those pages explain the organizers’ purpose; the post-event report does not give a total for books that went home.
The scavenger hunt offered one route from story to activity. The coalition’s event page said families would search for characters and objects from featured books; children who found all 10 items could choose a free title. The Observer confirmed that the event included a scavenger hunt and that children could select a book to take home. Neither report gives a participant count or a total for books distributed.
The Ormond Beach Public Library brought another reading-related activity. The library offered children’s crafts and copies of Roar-Choo!, the October selection in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the Observer reported. Early Learning Coalition volunteers also handed out additional books. The report treats those as separate parts of the day: it does not say that the coalition’s take-home books were the same title the library offered. Children could choose from the additional books distributed by coalition volunteers.
Cassie Wilder, the coalition’s family engagement specialist, told the Observer that the event aimed to raise awareness and support for literacy, and to show how ideas from books can move into hands-on experiences. That goal was reflected in the program’s mix of storytime, crafts and play. The program gave families several ways to engage with books: listening to a story, looking for characters and objects in a hunt, or taking part in a craft. The event materials and post-event report describe those options; they do not publish reading assessments or attendance figures.
Storybook Village also sits within a broader set of early-learning work in the two counties. The Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia supports children from birth through age 13 and provides programs and resources for families and educators, according to the Observer. Its Storybook Village information says one priority is getting children excited about reading. The event page describes the gathering as a way for families to explore, play and create around books.
The coalition also uses Storybook Village as one of several fundraisers for the Volusia County Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The program provides free books to children from birth through age 5 and is funded by local donations, grants and fundraisers, the coalition says. On its Storybook Village page, the coalition says families can take home additional books to build their home libraries. Storybook Village is one of the fundraisers that helps support that work. The event and the book program are distinct efforts: Storybook Village invites families to explore books together, while the Imagination Library provides free books to children from birth through age 5.
For families who chose a book, the day offered a simple next step after the museum visit: read it again at home. The free event paired that possibility with activities that invited children to listen, search, make and play with their families. The sources describe the opportunities and the longer-running program, not a measured change in children’s reading habits. What the reports document is a local effort that connected an event at the museum with the library, the coalition’s book giveaway and an ongoing program that provides free books to young children.
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