Penn Wynne Library cut the ribbon Saturday, Oct. 10, on a new Community Reading Garden, opening an ADA-accessible outdoor space more than six years in the making at 130 Overbrook Parkway in Wynnewood.

Hundreds of residents packed the celebration, which ran from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. according to the township calendar. The ribbon-cutting and a mural dedication served as centerpieces of the inaugural Penn Wynne Day festival, staged along Manoa and Haverford Roads with more than 50 vendors, makers, organizations and small businesses, Mainline Media News first reported.

Members of Girl Scout Troop 7171 held the ribbon while head librarian Jennifer Kuhns and associate children's librarian Danielle DiFederico made the cut.

"This beautiful space is an asset to Penn Wynne and the entire township and one that will be enjoyed for years to come," Ward 14 Commissioner Shelby Sparrow said at the event.

The garden was designed by SALT Design Studio and built by ThinkGreen. It features an ADA-accessible pathway and seating, a gathering lawn, natural play features built from wood harvested on-site, a stone puzzle and scooter parking. A Hügelkultur garden, a technique that uses buried wood to create planting mounds, anchors native plantings that support local wildlife.

The National Wildlife Federation designated the garden a Certified Wildlife Habitat. Monarch Watch named it an official Monarch Waystation.

Penn Wynne resident Paul Downie, executive director of the Community Arts Center, painted a mural called "Story Stream" on the garden's back wall. The library's children's storytime program, "Books and Blankets," previously held at a nearby park, can now take place on library grounds.

Three Pennsylvania state grant programs helped fund the project, along with contributions from the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners, the Rotary Club of Ardmore and the Jimmy Sullivan Memorial Walkathon at Penn Wynne Elementary School. Penn Wynne Presbyterian Church and School donated parking space for the gathering lawn, and the Lower Merion Conservancy provided plant material. Engraved bricks throughout the garden recognize donors who contributed through the Penn Wynne Library Association's "Make Your Mark" campaign.

Upcoming library programs are listed on the Penn Wynne Library website.