The Evanston Public Library is stepping up efforts to go to patrons.
It’s not that the library isn’t heavily used, because it is, said Neal Ney, the director. But not everyone is using it, and that’s what the library wants to change.
“The library has just recently approved a new strategic plan titled `The Decade of Outreach,'” Ney said. “We are going to be finding ways to connect with those parts of the community that don’t use the library or who underutilize the library.”
“We want to reach out to the community and make it a library that reaches all aspects and parts of Evanston’s diverse community,” said John Sagan, the library board’s president. “We found in some of our studies a lot of people come into our main library a lot, but there are a lot of people in Evanston who simply don’t use the library.”
The first targets will be neighborhoods with heavy populations of non-patrons.
“There are some pockets in town–they also generally are pockets of poverty in town–where library use is very, very low,” Ney said. “So one of our goals is reaching those areas, and principally we will be focusing on children and on children at risk.”
The library seems to be borrowing missionary techniques.
“What we’re really talking about is putting some of our staff members on the ground in these neighborhoods with community groups and organizations, schools and social-service agencies–working with some of the youngest children and their parents,” Ney said.
“We plan on doing story times and other literacy activities and then looking for ways to provide transportation to get people into the library and using the buildings.”
One of the chief efforts will be starting a Parent-Child Workshop, a family-based program developed by Libraries for the Future, a national library advocacy agency based in New York City whose specialties include designing parent-child and after-school programs.
“The program will be provided here for younger, preschool children,” Ney said. “The intent will be to bring the kids and their parents to the library and into a big playroom kind of setting in the community meeting room.”
There the children will find educational toys, board books, art activities and storytelling. For the parents, professionals will be available to advise in areas such as hearing and language development.
“They will not be lecturing but simply [will] go around to the various play groups and talk with parents as a way of passing on some useful information,” Ney said. “Obviously, the whole intent is to get the parents and the children used to coming to the library and helping the parents understand the importance of these early literacy activities.”
Outreach programs are nothing new at the library.
“For instance, we currently have librarians who go to schools and to some day-care groups,” Sagan said. “On the west side of Evanston we have supported the Foster Reading Center, which last year became part of the YMCA.
“We’re trying to encourage ways to both get more people and more of Evanston’s diverse population to use the library, whether that’s the main building or a branch.”
To accomplish these goals takes money, which is why increasing funding is another concern of library officials.
“While the Evanston Public Library is funded very well when compared to other public libraries of its size throughout the nation, its funding is actually not that good when compared to other libraries in the North Shore area,” Ney said. “So, consequently, we feel a real compelling need to do things to supplement the funding the city is able to provide.”
Five years ago the library began a private fundraising effort with the goal of building up the collection of books and media items.
The Fund for Excellence campaign raises $40,000 to $50,000 a year for collection improvement. A book sale run by volunteers brings in another $60,000 to $65,000 annually, most of which also goes to expand the library collection, Ney said.
Library officials are striving to keep up with services patrons want, and one of those services is access to the Internet.
“We have four Internet work stations and they’re in constant use,” Ney said. “We are going to be adding three more in upcoming months.”
Keeping up with the evolving role of libraries is a concern for officials. Sagan, 50, is mindful of changes he has seen.
“When I was a boy, libraries were quiet places that essentially were depositories of books,” Sagan said. “Today, reading just books has become one of many options for libraries.”
He added: “I don’t think it’s a question of the survival of libraries–hopefully, people will always realize libraries have a place. But the question is, `What direction should libraries take as we move into the future?'”
“Should libraries try to stay places where people go, like when I was a kid to simply read books? Should they become places where you go to use the Internet and other kinds of new access to information?”
Or, he wondered, should libraries take their cue from the success of large bookstores with coffee bars? The answers are yet to be determined, he said.
“I think we are going to have to, as communities, figure out what the role of our libraries should be in the 21st Century,” Sagan said.
Chapter and verse at the library
The Evanston Public Library will be the place to be in upcoming months. Here are some of the programs planned. Unless otherwise listed, call 847-866-0312 for more information.
May 8: Itabari Njeri, an author and a winner of the American Book Award, will read from her works at 7 p.m. in the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Free.
May 9: The documentary “Style Wars,” which explores the roots of hip-hop and the New York City subway graffiti artists, will be screened at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Free. Presented by Reeltime, an independent film and video forum.
May 12: An Alternative Youth Video Festival will be held at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Free. Presented by Reeltime, an independent film and video forum.
May 13: The 23rd annual Jo-Anne Hirshfield Memorial Poetry Awards Ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. The program also will feature a reading by this year’s judge, Richard Jones. Free.
May 14: Home Schooling Information Night. Information will be presented about home schooling, including available resources and activities and the legal requirements. Home-schooling parents will be present. The program will be held at 7 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Free.
June and July: Time Travelers is a community reading group that explores history through fiction and non-fiction. Participants may read one or more of the books or none. The group meets in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Dates and times to be announced. Free.
June 7: Open Summer Reading Game. Sign-up begins at all library locations for children to play the summer reading game. Free.
June 14-Aug. 23: Chess Night will meet at 7 p.m. Thursdays in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Players at all levels are welcome. This is a joint program with Evanston/Skokie Elementary School District 65. Free.
June 20: Eggshell Art, a drop-in art activity for children, will be conducted by Marti Bjornson at 11 a.m. at the North Branch, 2026 Central St. Free.
July 2, 9, 16, 23 & 30: A drop-in story time for children 3 to 7 will be held at 1:30 p.m. Mondays in July at the North Branch, 2026 Central St. Free.
July 6, 13, 20 & 27: Bookbabies, a drop-in story time for children 12 months to 24 months and their parents or caregiver will be offered at 9 a.m. Fridays in July at the South Branch, 949 Chicago Ave. Free
July 10: “The Orphan Saint” is a 60-minute comedy by Chicago filmmakers about the citizens of a small town who plan to elevate a living local woman to sainthood. The program will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in the Community Meeting Room at the main library, 1703 Orrington Ave. Presented by Reeltime. Free.
— Compiled by Charles Stanley
Library facts
Main library
Address: 1703 Orrington Ave., Evanston, IL 60201
Telephone: 847-866-0300
Fax: 847-866-0313
Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday; noon-6 p.m. Sunday
North branch
Address: 2026 Central St., Evanston, IL 60201
Telephone: 847-866-0330
Fax: 847-866-0331
Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.
South branch
Address: 949 Chicago Ave., Evanston, IL 60202
Telephone: 847-866-0333
Fax: 847-866-0332
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.
Useful phone numbers
Administration: 847-866-0312
Audiovisual desk: 847-866-0310
Automated renewal system: 847-866-5499
Browsing room: 847-866-0310
Children’s services: 847-866-0320; fax: 847-866-0623
Circulation: 847-866-0304
Periodicals desk: 847-866-0307; fax: 847-866-0319
Reference desk: 847-866-0305
Switchboard/Information: 847-866-0300
Web site
www.evanston.lib.il.us/library/library.html
