Mary Mattingly, an artist whose work focuses on the ecological spaces and resources that people share, will have a new communal setting to explore in 2020: the Brooklyn Public Library, as its artist in residence.

“The work that I’ve been focused on all has to do with some kind of commons, whether it’s water or air or food,” she said in an interview on Wednesday. Her hope is that the library, as a public space dedicated to sharing knowledge, can be used to “strengthen those others commons.”

Ms. Mattingly has had experience working on New York’s waterfront, which, she said, taught her how much a project can be enhanced by the public’s involvement. “It’s integral to co-learning,” she said. Her project Swale, a floating garden she created in 2016 that docked at various piers in New York, allowed visitors to forage for free fresh food. The plans for that and other projects of hers were “filled out and became much better and stronger by virtue of just being set in a space where so many people with different experiences go to and add to.”

“Stars Down to Earth,” a joint exhibition with the conceptual artist Dario Robleto at the library’s main location at Grand Army Plaza, will kick off Ms. Mattingly’s tenure on Jan. 13. Her contributions will include a spherical sculpture embedded with plant fossils from the Eocene epoch and living plant life, as well as a window display of photographs focusing on the industrial supply chain. Intricate and carefully researched sculptures by Mr. Robleto will supply the cosmic dimension.