InfoZone
Karen Perry, Children's Librarian
Indianapolis Marion County Public Library – Franklin Road Branch
Master of Library Science, Indiana University (1991)
The InfoZone Library is the result of a partnership between Indianapolis Marion County Public Library and The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Our 3,000 square foot facility features an entrance from the Museum as well as a separate, free entrance for library patrons. The Museum provides the space, utilities and furniture, and any maintenance while the library supplies the staff, the materials and technology, and the repairs.
Opened in December 2000, this full-service branch serves as a neighborhood library for local residents as well as a resource for those visiting The Children's Museum. One-fourth of the nearly 1,000,000 people who visit the Museum each year visit the InfoZone.
Our collection of 14,000 items is mainly for children with a small adult collection. Museum visitors and local residents browse the library, checking out books, CD's, DVD's and other materials with their free library card. In addition, patrons can check out learning kits. In this way, they can borrow a bit of the museum to take home with them.
Visitors and local residents use the twenty-five Internet accessible computers with Word, Excel and PowerPoint available and the capability of printing their documents.
InfoZone also provides programs of interest to the neighborhood such as basic computer programs for adults. Staff is required to visit every exhibit and be prepared to answer visitor questions regarding the museum. This aids them when doing book displays that reflect what is going on in and throughout the museum.
Article reprinted with permission from the author and Indiana Insight, a publication of IUPUI.
