If you ever visit the Merchants’ Square supermarket in Carmel, Indiana, you may be surprised to find shelves without groceries, but rather books.
This former food supermarket was recently taken over by the Carmel Clay Public Library that transformed the space into a temporary home for their literary collection.
Empty Supermarket Transformed into a Library
In one of their Instagram posts, the library asked “What’s better than pork & beans?”-An aisle filled with large print books, that’s what!”.
Although turning supermarkets into public libraries may seem like a new thing, it’s a decision made with practicality in mind. Namely, the main Merchant Square of the library is being renovated and it’s not expected to reopen until 2022.
So, the big store which was vacant for the last three years turned out to be the ideal way to keep the books safe, while still allowing locals to borrow and return them.
The supermarket’s fridges, shelves, and freezers have all been properly repurposed to have all of the children’s and teen’s materials, as well as their adult collection and audiovisual resources.
The Community Is Adjusting to the New, Short-Term Change
The CCPL communications manager Christy Walker explains the periodicals and biographies can be found in the freezers whereas the audiobooks are where the deli meats were kept.
Where the wine section once was, they now set up a part of their children’s department. Walker added that the community is getting accustomed to the fact that the place they once shopped for their daily groceries is now a library.
How do you like the library?
Don’t forget to check out the transformation images below:
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