Marion Public Library & Museum Courtyard

Libraries are essential places for communities, and especially for low-income residents that benefit most from their free resources, programming, and gathering spaces. This is true for the Public Library in Marion, Indiana, where 28.5% of residents live in poverty and 27.3% English and Language Arts proficiency for children grades three to eight—nearly half of the Indiana state average. The Marion Public Library collaborates closely with the Marion Community School system to help close this gap through literacy fairs and other community events like field trips, tours, and book clubs. 

The indoor spaces at the Library can be limited by noise, size, or use restrictions. The library and its adjacent museum have available outdoor spaces, including a community garden, a courtyard and an empty entryway, but there is a lack of paved areas, varied levels of concrete, and other obstacles that make the spaces difficult to utilize. With the Community Placemaking Grant, Project for Public Spaces will partner with the Marion Public Library and Museum and its community members to transform these disjointed spaces into a welcoming and safe gathering space that can host expanded and more visible educational opportunities and community-wide programming.