Extracted from Jeffersonville Township Public Library’s Impact100 Grant Application

Executive Summary

What we are: Jeffersonville Township Public Library is a public library system serving the approximately 117,400residents of Clark County, Indiana, as well as people who work in or visitJeffersonville and Clarksville, the communities where you can find the libraries in our system.Our vision is to “be a vibrant cultural and educational community destination that welcomes everyone to gather, engage, create, learn, and grow.” Except for notary service and materials charges for things like the public copier, most of our services are free; we don’t even charge fines for late items or fees for using our FAX machine.

In addition to offering Clark County residents and reciprocal borrowers from other Indiana counties tens of thousands of books, movies, and other materials both online and in physical form, we have worked to welcome people of all descriptions into our library: onsite GED classes help raise income potentials; a range of services helps people access computers and the internet, including Wi-Fi hotspots and laptops available for checkout; specially designed indoor toys provide calming play for children with intellectual differences and their peers; a Maker space invites community members to use a wide variety of tools, from a sewing machine to a laser cutter; family and local history services connect people to relatives past and present; and a recentre model at both facilities improves accessibility for all patrons.

What we hope to accomplish: The construction of a pocket park with structures for active, imaginative play designed to accommodate all children, including those with intellectual and physical differences; aStoryWalk™to provide education, entertainment, and exercise for people of all ages; accessible walkways and seating designed to allow all members of the community to enjoy the space; and sustainable plantings of native flora. All chosen components have been guided by the community’s choices, expressed through surveys and listening sessions and designed by a landscape architect. Park amenities were chosen with an eye toward safety, placing emphasis on fencing to keep children and other vulnerable people out of traffic, smooth poured rubber surfacing in the play area, long sight lines to discourage illegal activity, and state-of-the-art surveillance cameras. The park will be decorated by the Jeffersonville Public ArtCommission and thematically tied to Southern Indiana’s railroad and Underground Railroad history. The park will make our Jeffersonville location’s lawn appealing to all ages and abilities, plus easy to keep safe and well-groomed by using the library’s existing maintenance staff and by designing to increase visibility and improve safety.Since, to the best of our knowledge, we are the first library in the world to offer our patrons an accessible park, we hope to be a model for improved library service around the globe.