A Sneak Peek at Our Newest Placemaking Library Project | Placemaking Round-Up

Posted April 10, 2022 - 11:56

This round-up from the Project for Public Spaces connects people who share a passion for public spaces to ideas and issues, news, quotes, places, and events from the placemaking movement.

Growing the Shafter Library & Learning Center

This spring, it's with great joy that we unveil the placemaking transformation of the Shafter Library & Learning Center in Shafter, California.

Thanks to funding support from GAF, North America’s largest roofing manufacturer, we were able to double the Learning Center's capacity to serve patrons, many of whom speak English as a second language, as well as reimagine the parking lot as a beautiful oasis—think loungers and plants—for studying and relaxation. Read more.

Recent Blog Posts

Announcing New Co-Executive Directors Kelly Verel & Nate Storring
March 27, 2021

A (Market) Place for Everyone
February 22, 2022 • by Priscilla Posada

Thinking Beyond the Parks Department: A Q&A with Javier Otero Peña
January 14, 2022 • by Priscilla Posada

Community Placemaking Grants

Due April 15, 2022 at 11:59pm EDT: Thanks to support from Niantic, one American city or town will receive the resources and support to help one of its major public spaces engage and improve the visitor experience for underserved members of their community.

The winner of this round of Community Placemaking Grants will receive $40,000 in funding for physical and programmatic improvements to a public space as well as design, research, community engagement, and implementation support from Project for Public Spaces and more.

Learn More & Apply

More Events & Opportunities

April 10-13 • Register for the Social Alchemy Symposium, a free, participatory mini-conference, online and in person in New Harmony, Indiana, Big Car Collaborative

April 14 • Register for the Placemake Earth I dea Sharing Gathering, PlacemakingUS

Now through April 19 • Apply for a Two-Week Preservation Fellowship, National Trust for Historic Preservation

Have an event or opportunity you would like to share? Email us at [email protected].

Public Space News

New Social Impact Project! Earlier this year, Project for Public Spaces designed a mobile library environment with support from CloroxPro for Atlanta's Fulton County Library System based on input from the community. This week people of all ages had the opportunity to enjoy the All Access Library, which includes seating and an Imagination Playground set, during National Library Week. (Fulton County Library System)

Lessons for Community-Centered Economic Inclusion. Last year the Bass Center and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation issued a playbook on how to build community wealth in disinvested neighborhoods.

In a new report, Hanna Love and Teresa Garcia, share early findings from their research on five cities—Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Detroit, San Diego, and Philadelphia—that have implemented community-centered economic inclusion. (Brookings Institution)

Montreal Invests in Pedestrianization. It's inspiring to see that Montreal, Canada is investing $12 million over three years into pedestrianizing the city's commercial arteries. This summer, ten streets will close to traffic making them more welcoming to alternative modes of transportation. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says, "These projects are not only good for the economy, they also contribute directly to the attractiveness of Montreal." (Cult MTL)

Placemaking Playbook

As always, here's a roundup of placemaking projects and ideas that inspired us this week:

Activists are painting DIY crosswalks in Los Angeles (NPR)
A profile of the placemaking movement (Making Sense of Place)
Enjoy these photos of Diversity Plaza—the “one city block that holds the world”—in Jackson Heights, New York City (Urban Omnibus)
The pandemic has inspired people to rethink their hometown's pedestrian experience (New York Times)
San Francisco launches a tree nursery for local planting projects in historically underserved communities (Next City)