when you walk by there might be that one special animal that catches your eye. reporter: the stores love it too. foot traffic on this side of the mall has jumped 10% since they moved in. they re paying rent and filling empty space. the animal shelter is what used to be a clothing brand quicksilver location and it s right across from what used to be a library, an american eagle. it s not a bookstore, but public library. there are books for all ages, toys and play spaces for the kids too. a lot of toy stores are closing. i think having a public county library come in has revitalized this mall specifically. reporter: branch manager rachel meyers says it goes both ways. they re coming to the mall for so many other things, and they re becoming library users all the time. and that s really what we want is creating more library customers. reporter: nationwide, about a tenth of mall space is currently empty. so they re turning to unconventional solutions. the future could look like