She would have really loved the brightly-colored carpet and the huge, yellow cushions. 

John Robidoux said his daughter, Amanda, would have loved the new reading nook located at the eastern end of the children’s room at Barrington Public Library — a comfortable place that begs children to grab a book, relax and enjoy. 

“She would love this,” Mr. Robidoux said. “This is right up her alley.”

Earlier this month, John and Deb Robidoux visited the special reading nook that carries their daughter’s name. They sat on the seats and stared at the wall-size mural which features one of Amanda’s paintings and a poem she wrote. It’s called “The Book.”

They said Amanda, who passed away last January at the age of 23, always loved to read. When she was younger, she would take a book and a walkie talkie out to a special tree in her neighborhood, and sit and read for hours. 

“That was her own picture, of her reading under her favorite tree,” Mr. Robidoux said, pointing to the mural. “She did that picture after her accident.”

Amanda was 11 years old when she had a near-drowning accident — it was July 5, 2009 in Westport, and Amanda spent the next four months at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. She went to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston for another four months after that.

Mrs. Robidoux said Amanda struggled with motor skills and her eyesight following the accident. She was limited to a wheelchair and had to re-learn how to speak and perform other routine tasks. But her mind was unaffected.

“She was 100 percent there, cognitively,” her mom said. 

Amanda continued to love all the things she loved before her accident. She cared deeply about the environment. With help from her parents, she organized coat drives and food drives and school supply drives, all through her organization Pandas Helping Paws. (Amanda’s nickname was Panda.)

“We joke that we are her minions, because she would be like ‘We need to do a Pandas Paws,’” Mrs. Robidoux said. “We’d drive around. We’d get flyers. We’d drive around to Starbucks and Shaw’s, and collect stuff. We’re still doing those things.”

When Amanda passed away last January, the Robidoux family asked people to send donations to Barrington Public Library in Amanda’s name. It seemed fitting, her parents said. 

The Robidouxs worked with library director Kris Chin and Lisa Lesinski, the head of children’s services at the library. They eventually settled on using the donations to create a reading nook in the children’s room, surrounded by a colorful mural.

“Lisa and Kris were awesome,” Mr. Robidoux said. 

The mural is a reprint of the painting Amanda created with help from an occupational therapist. Her reading tree fills half the mural and an open book fills the other half. On the pages is her poem, “The Book.”

Mrs. Robidoux said she and her husband initially struggled to find the right words to fill the space on the mural. 

“They asked ‘Did Amanda have a favorite quote?’” Mrs. Robidoux said. “I was, ‘Oh my goodness, Amanda loved books so much. How are we going to figure out what her favorite quote was?’

“I remember we would go through her things, and as we were leaving the meeting that day, I was like ‘The Book!’ She had the poem called ‘The Book.” It just clicked. I remember walking to the car — I knew it then because it just fit.”

Books, poems and stories fill so much of Amanda’s life, said her parents. 

“Even when she was at Sargent (Rehabilitation Center), she was determined to read as many classic novels as she could,” Mr. Robidoux said. “She wanted to make sure she read everything she was supposed to for high school. It got to be a challenge. I had to write them down. She read, like, 54. Every classic you can think of she has read. Initially we would read to her. Then she would listen to Audible.”

Mrs. Robidoux continued: “Audible got her to read at a ridiculous speed that he and I couldn’t comprehend… She ended up getting her high school diploma. She took a few college courses online.”

Her parents said Amanda also presented at two conferences, sharing the technological advances she used while overcoming her physical challenges. At one conference, the keynote speaker made a special effort to attend Amanda’s presentation.

Mr. Robidoux said he was also helping Amanda write a book.

“She was initially doing a story about her accident, but she was doing it by way of poetry,” Mr. Robidoux said. “So she was writing a poem about every single aspect of what happened. It was really cool.

“We never got to the end, but it’s really cool.”

Mr. Robidoux said he was also working with Amanda on a children’s book. 

“We have the whole idea set out,” he said, adding that he plans to finish it for her.