What walking has given me can never be distilled onto a Fitbit or calorie counting app. Rather, I am far more aware now of how my senses help my brain filter and interpret the vast sea of information constantly shifting around me, allowing me too not just move through the world, but to understand my own place within it. I've seen the same transformation in my son: At 10, he started walking to and from school by himself, and realized that he could also walk to after-school karate or wander to the library or a friend's house and then home again without his parents. Many of his friends who were driven everywhere didn't know how to get from one side of town to the other; a 15- to 20- minute walk.
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When children find freedom at that library it is often because they have the freedom to choose what to read. The books don't cost money to borrow so kids can try things they might not like. A kind of coming-of-age happens in the transition from the juvenile collection to the regular stacks.
This neighborhood library offers another kind of freedom since a 10-year old can get there himself on foot or bicycle. Adults think of driving as a kind of coming-of-age because the driver's license frees children from being driven, but the library card coming-of-age can happen much earlier in life. It will be six years before this kid can drive, but he's already gaining a sense of independence and self-determination. I agree with his mom, that's a wonderful thing.
The article specifies that the family moved from an exurban home to a walkable town. Adults forget (or maybe never knew) that car-dependent infrastructure is a serious obstacle for people who can't drive or can't afford to drive, and that means all children. Libraries are especially accommodating to children with juvenile collections and children's librarians, but it's also an important aspect of libraries that, in the right kind of walkable environment, kids can go there even if they don't go with their parents.
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