New Canaan Library is poised to start landscaping in the corner lot at South Avenue and Maple Street, officials say, and this week will begin leveling the area with topsoil as it pursues plans to create a pocket park for residents.
When that’s done, the visible corner lot will also get grass seeding, Belgian block around its edges and a sprinkler system, Library Director Lisa Oldham said.
New Canaan Library is putting in a pocket park at the corner of South Avenue and Maple Street.
As it works separately to create a widely anticipated rebuilding plan for New Canaan Library—creating a more flexible, updated space for users while preserving physical parts of the institution held dear by New Canaanites—the library is converting the .27-acre lot, acquired last year, into something aesthetically pleasing and useful.
Down the road, the pocket park at South and Maple will get wireless technology so that people enjoying it can download books to mobile devices, Oldham said.
What’s needed for that technology is just a weather-safe, secure way to keep the wireless device (called “LibraryBox”).
“There was an idea of some sort of kiosk or little gazebo, but when we do that the town needs some plans and we’re not ready for that just yet,” Oldham said.
Meanwhile, New Canaan Library has made public its dedicated Web page for a seed exchange. Serving New Canaan amid the rising popularity of gardening and locally sourced food, the library is setting up a seed swap and corresponding programming that will see users take seeks at the start of a growing season and then bring back seeds at the end of the season from what they’ve been able to harvest. Programming that the library is rolling out will include educational sessions for interested people.