Shared from -> https://x.com/TracyNovick/status/1944064535821725774? or go directly to wbur's page -> https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/07/11/playgrounds-dcr-massachusetts-renovations-gronk-opening-newsletter"Crafting a playground may seem simple at first: Install a slide, a few sets of swings, maybe some monkey bars and you’re set.But what if that slide is made of material that isn’t slippery enough? Or, what if it’s angled in a way that causes someone to pick up too much speed? That’s the difference between a playground that’s popular and one that’s infamous.Across Massachusetts, there are nearly 80 playgrounds managed by the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation. And the person making sure each one of them is fun and safe is Sandra Libby, the department’s official playground planner.
wbur: "What makes a playground fun, according to Mass. DCR’s playground guru" Libby has been a certified playground inspector for 25 years, and has spent the last nine of those years as DCR’s playground planner. She looks through landscaping plans, tinkers with structure materials, talks to manufacturers and, maybe most importantly, thinks about what children would want to play on, from jungle gyms to pirate ships to spinners. “The goal is for every kid to go there and feel like they have something that they really enjoy and can use,” she said."
Note: I would add that appropriate shade coverage to keep the slides and other equipment useful during sunny days. One of Franklin's recreational failures is the lack of such coverage resulting in areas that stand empty on summer days. Look at Dacey Field playground and the revamped Nason St as key examples of no shade vs. Fletcher Field which has shaded space.
