Miami-Dade Public Library System responded to five “how” questions:

• How to entice patrons to a tiny storefront branch?
• How to connect with neighborhoods populated with lonely, isolated, foreign language-speaking seniors?
• How to help Miami-Dade County resolve the issue of millions of polyethylene carryout bags headed for landfills that aren't collected in curbside recycling?
• How to help connect the homeless with county services and resources?
• How to bring meaningful purpose and community spirit to diverse participants?

The library has organized 25 participants who in turn conveyed their new skills to patrons from Peru, the Congo, the Philippines and Haiti. With zero cost to the public library patron, donated and discarded materials create three-feet-wide by six-feet-long upcycled "plarn" mats requiring two hundred bags folded and 2,300 plastic strips cut and strung together. The library has combined a seemingly simple craft with an environmental and philanthropic purpose benefiting the larger community.

MDPLS provided the facility and created the program, collected and organized the materials, mentored the newcomers and connected stakeholders resulting in increased library visitation, increased understanding of the homelessness issue and increased interaction with various socio-economic patrons who had been non-users, along with awareness of reducing plastic bag pollution through hands-on solutions. There have been new partnerships between the library and community organizations with over 30 visits to the homeless, distributing over 170 homemade mats.