Published August 20, 2026 04:07AM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The earthy scent of waiting-to-be-opened books permeates the air when I walk into the Anythink Nature Library<\/a> just outside Denver, Colorado. It\u2019s to be expected, as the 33,000-square-foot, sunlit space just opened its doors\u00a0<\/strong>August 8. But the hundreds of people surrounding me aren\u2019t paging through those tomes. There are kids scrambling over a dozen boulders that have been placed in an organic path inside. Other people\u00a0are staring up at star-like lights on the ceiling of the dark room, which is meant to simulate the experience of being outside at night,\u00a0and smells faintly of campfire thanks to the Shou Sugi Ban treatment used for the wood.<\/p>\n Outside of the library, a mud pit is teeming with laughing littles who are vigorously moving the hand pumps to transform the sandy area into a messy playground. (Parents will be happy to discover there\u2019s also a clean-up room with sinks and towels.) Nearby, visitors are watering the recently planted magnolias in the learning garden; they\u2019ll be used in Hispanic Heritage Month programming in September. A quarter-mile gravel trail winds across some of the property\u2019s 15-acre campus and leads to an outdoor storytelling circle.<\/p>\n Anythink is the public library system for Adams County; the Nature Library itself sits about 20 miles northeast of Denver, in Thornton, Colorado. The Nature Library is the county\u2019s eighth branch and and the nation\u2019s first public nature library.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will really be the first public library in the country that is solely dedicated to learning about nature,\u201d said RyAnne Scott, Anythink\u2019s director of external relations and brand strategy. \u201cSo much of the play kids do can be sanitized. We want to encourage kids to get in the mud and get dirty.\u201d<\/p>\n Designed around the principles of the Environmental Kinship Model<\/a>\u2014an approach to teaching kids based on engaging in, with, for, and about nature\u2014the venue is intended to remove barriers to outdoor access, encourage hands-on play, and generate positive experiences with the natural environment.<\/p>\n While visitors can, of course, check out books of all kinds, the library\u2019s TryIts program<\/a> is among its most exciting offerings. With a free library card, guests can borrow more than 650 outdoors-related items (the goal is to grow the collection to around 1,500 pieces), including gardening tools, hammocks, camping equipment, snowshoes, birdwatching and bug-finding kits, and more. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to be a little REI with the types of things in our collection,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n The concept originated through conversations with the community, which consistently noted that they wanted more ways to access the outdoors.<\/p>\n \u201cSo often when we think of outdoors and nature, especially here in Colorado, we think of going up into the mountains and that\u2019s where the outdoors and nature is. But really, so much of the outdoors and nature, it\u2019s all around us,\u201d Scott said. \u201cWe really want to be able to open up access to nature on the whole, regardless of who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n Recent research by the National Recreation and Park Association<\/a> found that children are spending less than ten minutes per day enjoying unstructured outdoor play compared to more than seven hours interacting with electronic media.<\/p>\n In addition to the myriad indoor and outdoor play spaces, the Nature Library\u2019s programming is working to counter the screen-time problem. Beyond the traditional storytimes and arts classes, events are also being developed with local outdoor organizations, like a session focused on learning about organisms that glow in the dark with Great Outdoors Colorado<\/a>. Regular \u201cWildings\u201d sessions for two-to-six-year-olds will combine story time and sensory activities while adults can enjoy \u00a0yoga classes or mindful crafting classes.<\/p>\n An indoor-outdoor art and science lab provides space for firsthand learning. When I stopped by, visitors were making cyanotype tote bags. There\u2019s also a self-guided walking tour of ten different gardens based on local environments. (Anythink is also a member of the Outdoor Industry Association.)<\/p>\n The library itself is organized more like a bookstore, with an emphasis on nature-focused volumes, though popular titles and recent releases are also available.<\/p>\n A six-member Indigenous Advisory Council was formed in 2023 to help design the nature-inspired building. The front entrance, for example, is supported by a structure that mimics cottonwood trees, and if you were to look at the library from above, you\u2019d notice it\u2019s shaped like three blades of grass blowing in the wind in celebration of the surrounding prairies. The duality of nature comes through in having a dark room and a sun room. In the Indigenous Voices section, the spine labels on books are organized by Indigenous tribal names.<\/p>\n Nature is infused throughout the library in small ways and big. A curving, live plant wall sets the tone in the lobby, while terrazzo floors have small Colorado animals built into the design\u2014a scavenger hunt of sorts for curious minds.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get outside of the library industry in general,\u201d said Mark Fink, executive director of Anythink. \u201cIt\u2019s about what is the community asking for? \u2026 That\u2019s how libraries can rethink how they provide any kind of service. It doesn\u2019t have to be books on a shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n Five meeting and study rooms offer privacy and despite being farthest from the windows, still connect people with the outdoors through wallpapers derived from natural materials, like prairie flowers and herbs (which you can actually smell). Views through the floor-to-ceiling, bird-safe windows extend to Pikes Peak and downtown Denver. At the center of the building is an open-air kinship garden; peepholes allow visitors to peek out at the rocks and plants, including serviceberry trees.<\/p>\n By 2027, Scott said, the exterior loop trail should connect to the regional trails of the adjacent 140-acre Aylor Open Lands, which are owned by the city of Thornton. (Outdoor bathrooms will make the library a welcoming pit stop for hikers and bikers).<\/p>\n According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress,\u00a0known as the Nation\u2019s Report Card, reading for pleasure is on the decline<\/a> among children and youth, and reading scores in schools have been struggling for years<\/a>, with a sharp decline happening during the pandemic.<\/p>\n The Nature Library hopes to start building curiosity about the natural world so that kids, in particular, will be interested in picking up a book and learning more. And, eventually, becoming stewards for the land too.<\/p>\n \u201cSo many kids don\u2019t have access to move their bodies freely, to just go and be and be carefree in natural spaces,\u201d said Maria Mayo-Peasley, the Nature Library branch manager and a former interpretive ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park. \u201cSome of what we\u2019re offering here is starting with experiencing nature in a free way and maybe coming across a curiosity through that exploration, that then they can come inside [and find a book about it].\u201d<\/p>\n Daliah\u00a0Singer is a Denver-based freelance journalist whose global travels now include her almost-two-year-old daughter\u2014who inherited her mom\u2019s love of reading. Current favorites:<\/em>Llama Llama Red Pajama\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>My Suitcase: A Fun Book of Travel.The Country\u2019s First Nature Library Opens Near Denver<\/h2>\n
Accessing the Outdoors While Combatting Screen Fatigue<\/h2>\n
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Rethinking What a Library Can Be<\/h2>\n
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