Work starts on paver pathway for Delmont Library's Outdoor Learning Center

Delmont Public Library officials were hoping members of the public would buy 250 pavers to help them pay for a pathway connecting the elements in their Outdoor Learning Center.

Instead, the public bought nearly 400, and on Monday morning, work was already underway.

“We’ll have about 4,000 pavers,” Grassel said. “We got a really nice set of grants — $14,700 from PNC’s Charitable Trust and a $5,000 donation from the Michael J. and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Fund of the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County.

In the past, the fund provided Delmont library officials with a $2,500 grant to build their outdoor butterfly garden, which will be re-established as part of the Outdoor Learning Center.

“I’m mostly excited about the opportunities kids will have to get outdoors and do some outdoor learning,” Grassel said. “To me, that’s really awesome — you come in and you can read a book, but you can also go outside and use your hands to learn.”

Grassel said the work is expected to be complete by next week. The library will host a June 7 open house from 6-7:30 p.m. that will include story time for children and treats from the Kona Ice truck, as well as a chance to contribute to the library’s butterfly garden.

“Families can bring gardening trowels, and we’ll have plants available for them to plant,” she said.

The learning center will include the butterfly garden, a community herb garden open for the public to come clip herbs to use with home cooking, solar bird baths, benches and more.

“There will be many, many different ways for kids to learn,” Grassel said.

The library is located at 75 School St. For more, see DelmontLibrary.org.