It was a wintry Thursday night at Nichols Library in Naperville, and on the southeast corner of the lower floor, about a dozen Naperville residents were sitting at computer terminals in wooden carrels, taking part in a workshop called Internet 2.
Headed by reference librarian Martha Vickery, who specializes in teaching electronics resources, the class is designed to upgrade the Internet skills of participants, many of whom are retirees.
“I’m not new to computer usage, but I think it’s wonderful to advance myself on it,” said Mary O’Donnell. Commenting on the library, she added, “The services are excellent.”
Peering over the home page of the Ask Jeeves Internet site, Clem Ondracek observed that the library is a perfect place to learn more about the Internet.
“It gives a chance for people to come in who wouldn’t go to a more sophisticated place for learning,” he said. “It’s a nice comfortable place to learn. And it ties in with the whole opportunity to develop, regardless of your age.”
Naperville has two public libraries: Nichols Library, 200 W. Jefferson St., and Naper Boulevard Library, 2035 S. Naper Blvd. The city plans to build a third library on the southwest side of Naperville that is expected to open in summer 2003.
Last year, the Naperville Public Libraries system was named best in the nation for its population size for the third time in a study conducted by Thomas Hennan, administrator of the Waukesha County Federated Library System in Wisconsin. The study compared data on nearly 9,000 public libraries based on 15 criteria, including costs compared with the population and circulation, visits per capita and the percentage of the library’s budget used for materials.
Many of the libraries’ programs have resulted from patron requests, said Susan Strunk, assistant manager of the Naper Boulevard Library. “We try to give personalized service to both adults and kids,” she said. “That’s something we pride ourselves on.”
Calling the Naper Boulevard Library “very much a neighborhood library,” Strunk said many of the patrons walk there, including school-age children who come on their own year-round. Scott Elementary School is next door, and River Woods Elementary School is a short walk away.
Because of the heavy use by children, the library strives to make sure programs for school-age children are offered in every three-month session. One such program is Book Break, designed for pupils in 1st through 3rd grades. The program meets weekly for an hour after school, and is also held at Nichols Library on a different weekday.
“A staff member will read, and we’ll sometimes have author studies in which authors appear on video to talk about their books,” Strunk said. “There’s an arts project at the end of the session, tying in with the book.”
Also popular with kids is the Winter Reading Program, held annually from early January to mid-February. Designed for pupils through 6th grade, the program encourages kids to keep track of the number of minutes they read at home. As they reach goals in reading minutes, they can earn prizes provided by the Chicago Wolves and by local merchants.
In March will be another program called Hot Diggety Dog, in which children hear stories and work on craft projects with canine-related themes, Strunk said.
Programs for adults include a Great Books Group that meets weekly at Naper Boulevard Library. Group members read excerpts from classic books, as well as short stories by acclaimed authors, then discuss them during the meetings.
Other adult services at the libraries include musical and cultural programs, and guest speakers discussing subjects such as tax planning and Chinese cooking, Strunk said.
The libraries are using advances in information technology to offer more services. January saw the launch of a “cyber branch” that allows cardholders to access the libraries’ collection of about 5,000 e-book titles, said Mark West, assistant director for information technology.
“When you find what you want … you can view it over a regular Web browser, or download it into a laptop or desktop computer and view it over a netLibrary reader, without being logged on to the Internet,” West said. “At the end of the loan period, it evaporates from your hard drive.”
The cyber branch also features an electronic reference service that allows patrons to submit questions through a form available through a link on the home page of the library Web site and receive answers from reference librarians online. Also offered is an online catalog of all the libraries’ materials.
The libraries can also provide about 30 databases, including newspaper archives and online college catalogs, via the Internet to Naperville Public Libraries cardholders in their homes. “A lot of the periodical literature we used to collect in hard copy is now available in these Web-delivered versions,” West said. “We’ve talked about the `library without walls’ for 25 years in my profession, and suddenly it’s here.”
The cyber branch, however, hasn’t eliminated the need for a third brick-and-mortar Naperville library.
The library, not yet named, will be built on a 6.5-acre parcel to be purchased by the city from the Naperville Park District at Frontier Park, near 95th Street and Illinois Highway 59. The parcel will be part of a 13-acre campus that will also include a new Naperville Park District building. The cost cap for the project is $17.4 million, including purchase of the land and construction, said Donna Dziedzic, Naperville Public Libraries director.
“We are fairly sure we’ll move toward wireless technology” in the new library, Dziedzic said. “The main thing it offers is flexibility. We’ll have the chance to use different parts of the library without necessarily worrying about wiring. We can do a training session in Internet skills in a room not necessarily wired for that purpose.”
Another possibility is a coffee shop, Dziedzic said. Original plans for the library called for a 750-square-foot coffee shop at the back of the building to help pull patrons through the library. But that position, which was determined at a time officials believed the library would be built at a site farther east on 95th, may be revised.
“At our new site, we have to think about whether having it at the back will increase traffic from people using the coffee shop and not the library,” Dziedzic said. “We need to look at the alternative of moving it toward the front of the library.”
Dziedzic said the new library will fill a need in the community. “We will be expanding to a section of Naperville that will have a population of 40,000 by that time,” she said. “That’s a population underserved now, but very supportive of Naperville’s libraries.”
The new library will also be home to the document copying department of Indian Prairie School District 204 and will offer a “city drop box,” where residents will be able to deposit their utility bill payments without having to stamp the envelopes, Dziedzic said.
The library will also serve as a symbol of cooperation in Naperville, she said.
“The Park District, school district, city government, the library system and the public have really all been involved in making this the best possible experience for the community,” Dziedzic said. “We have here an incredible example of intergovernmental cooperation.”
LIBRARY FACTS
Nichols Library: 200 W. Jefferson St., 63,000 square feet.
Naper Boulevard Library: 2035 S. Naper Blvd., 36,000 square feet.
Phone number for both libraries: 630-961-4100.
Web site for both libraries: www.naperville-lib.org.
Web site for the cyber branch: www.naperville-lib.org/eLibrary/index.htm.
The libraries have a total of 508,234 items. including; 444,882 books; 35,829 audios; 20,662 videos.
ON TAP AT THE LIBRARY
Tuesday: Great Books Discussion Group, 7 p.m., Board Room, Naper Boulevard Library, “The Education of Henry Adams,” by Adams.
March 8: From Cover to Cover, adult book discussion group, 7 p.m., Storytime Room, Nichols Library. The group will discuss “Tuesdays with Morrie,” by Mitch Albom.
March 12: Hot Diggety Dog, 4 p.m., Nichols Library, grades 1 to 3. Stories and crafts on canine-related topics.
March 13: Pageturners, morning book group, 9:30 a.m., Community Room, Nichols Library, adults. The group will discuss “The Poisonwood Bible,” by Barbara Kingsolver.
March 19: Storytime Session 2 begins (six weeks), at various times, Nichols Library and Naper Boulevard Library, children up to 5th grade.
March 20: Great Books Discussion Group, 7 p.m., Board Room, Naper Boulevard Library, adults. The group will discuss “King Lear,” by Shakespeare. Book Break begins: After-school program for grades 1 to 3 (4 weeks), 4 p.m. Nichols Library. Hot Diggety Dog, 4:15 p.m., Naper Boulevard Library, grades 1 to 3.
March 21: Book Break begins: After-school program for grades 1 to 3 (four weeks), 4:15 p.m., Naper Boulevard Library.
April 10: Pageturners, morning book group, 9:30 a.m., Community Room, Nichols Library, adults. The group will discuss “Almost a Woman,” by Esmeralda Santiago.
April 11: A Spoonful of Bunnies, 4:15 p.m., Naper Boulevard Library, kindergarten through 2nd grade. Stories and crafts about rabbits.
April 12: From Cover to Cover, adult book discussion group, 7 p.m., Storytime Room, Nichols Library. The group will discuss “Plainsong,” by Kent Haruf. A Spoonful of Bunnies, 4:15 p.m., Naper Boulevard Library, kindergarten through 2nd grade. Stories and crafts.
April 17: Great Books Discussion Group, 7 p.m., Board Room, Naper Boulevard Library, adults. The group will discuss “On Tragedy,” by Aristotle.
May 8: Pageturners, morning book group, 9:30 a.m., Community Room, Nichols Library, adults. The group will discuss “The Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia,” by Jean Sasson.
May 10: From Cover to Cover, adult book discussion group, 7 p.m., Storytime Room, Nichols Library. The group will discuss “The Poisonwood Bible,” by Barbara Kingsolver.
May 15: Great Books Discussion Group, 7 p.m., Board Room, Naper Boulevard Library, adults. The group will discuss “The Republic,” by Plato.
June 3: Summer Reading Program starts for all ages. Reading programs for children, young adults and adults. Participants earn incentives by reading books and listening to books on tape.
Aug. 5: Summer Reading Program ends at 5 p.m. All reading forms must be in by 5 p.m. to be eligible for incentives.
— Jeffrey Steele
