Tammy Blackwell, speaking for the Marshall County Library at the March 7 Marshall County Fiscal Court meeting, said the library has received a $45,000 grant to begin converting the Hardin branch into what she called a “family destination” with play areas, kindergarten-readiness activities and on-site space for community partners to offer services.

Blackwell said Marshall County faces serious foster-care challenges and presented statistics she said came from a community survey and state data: 80% of children in foster care have a significant mental-health issue; about half will have a substance-use disorder as adults; three-quarters of girls in foster care give birth before age 21; roughly half do not graduate high school; and only 2.5% go on to college. She said more than 10% of children in Marshall County are in foster care and that the county ranks 114th of 120 Kentucky counties on that metric.

"We are receiving a $45,000 grant to begin transforming our Hardin branch into a family destination library," Blackwell said, describing planned changes including colorful walls, imaginative-play pieces, sensory panels, learning activities oriented to kindergarten readiness, and a large screen listing local family resources.

Blackwell said community partners will be invited to use the new Hardin space for family visits and office hours to help residents sign up for services. She also said the University of Kentucky is undertaking a year-long resource-mapping project that includes Marshall and McCracken counties; she plans to recommend that the project map available housing as a community resource.

Blackwell invited fiscal court members to the branch’s ribbon cutting once work is finished and said she was seeking additional grant funding to continue the project.

The presentation occurred during the public-comment portion of the March 7 meeting; the fiscal court did not take a formal vote on the library items during that meeting.

Blackwell offered to provide the court additional statistics on request and said the Hardin work is “phase 1” of a larger plan to make the branch a learning environment for families.