Like the communities they serve, libraries in New Lenox, Frankfort and Mokena are experiencing a growth spurt.
New buildings, new equipment and new books are just part of the story. The role of the community library is expanding, too, as patrons flock to musical programs, art exhibits, book discussion groups and children’s story hours.
The New Lenox Public Library has the newest building, a two-story Prairie-style structure that opened Dec. 10, becoming the first destination in New Lenox Commons, a tract of rolling land south of U.S. Highway 30 that is slated to become the village’s town center.
At 59,000 square feet the new library at 120 Veterans Pkwy. is five times the size of its predecessor at 516 S. Cedar Rd., and the spacious feeling is enhanced when sunlight pours through its rows of windows.
“The public comments have just been very positive,” said library director JoAnn Potenziani.
Positive reviews
Liz Popp of Lockport, who works in New Lenox and frequented the local library on her lunch hour, gave the new building a rave review after her first visit. She called it “astounding” and a major contrast to the old building.
“To have this is just so much more encouraging to the community,” she said.
And the public does more than comment. They’re picking up the latest best seller or DVD of a favorite film, conversing with a discussion group, searching an Internet database or showing the kids the “rain forest tree” that dominates the children’s section.
Growth was the engine that fueled the library’s expansion. With 16,000 residents of New Lenox and New Lenox Township holding library cards, sheer numbers were overwhelming the old building’s shelf and floor space.
More space also allows the library to meet rising expectations, such as the demand for audiotapes, CD-ROMs and DVDs in addition to books, magazines and newspapers.
More cultural programming is in evidence too. A series of events marking the grand opening in February covered a range of subjects and interests, from folk music to history.
“We’ve become a little more of a community center,” Potenziani said.
Two original artworks were commissioned for the building. The huge “rain forest tree” sculpture designed by artist Rick Cortez, who has created exhibits at Brookfield Zoo, beckons young children to curl up and read under its spreading branches. Jim Jenkins’ three glass panels bearing images of the quest to communicate knowledge will hang on the wall along the library staircase when they are completed.
Amy and Marty McGreal of New Lenox praised the library as a welcoming place for their children, Devon, 3, and Tyler, 2.
“I like the fact that they have the whole children’s area and that [reading] tree,” Amy McGreal said.
The library is reaching out to older kids too, holding a focus group to get a better idea of what teens want, said Michelle Roubal, head of adult services. And space has been set aside for a coffee shop.
“It will be a really nice amenity,” Potenziani said.
Even with all the new media and equipment, including rows of computers that can be used for research, word processing or searching the online card catalog, the library mission remains constant, she said.
“The basic thing that we do is to connect people with information or pleasure reading,” she said.
The library’s Internet databases have user-friendly help screens, Roubal said. Library cardholders can even get a password so they can access the databases from their home computers, she said.
Though library staffers are pleased “just having so much wonderful space and such a beautiful environment for people,” challenges still exist, including keeping up with rapid changes in information technology and anticipating patrons’ needs, Potenziani said.
Mokena Community Library director Phyllis Jacobek also sees forecasting patrons’ needs as part of her job.
Fluent in two languages
The library was recently awarded a Gates Foundation grant that allows it to buy six computers valued at $6,500 each for $2,055 apiece. The machines will include extensive research capabilities and the ability to communicate in English and Spanish. The software also will be added to 10 existing computers at no additional cost.
“A lot of kids in the Lincoln-Way area are taking Spanish-language classes, and I thought, `Wouldn’t it be great if the kids could come in and do their homework in either language?'” Jacobek said.
With more and more people crowding into its tiny original library, Mokena built a 25,000-square-foot replacement at 11327 W. 195th St. five years ago.
“We still have a lot of room for expansion,” she said. “This building will be sufficient for the next 15 years.”
Having the space to keep growing is an asset. Slightly more than 15,000 people in Mokena, part of unincorporated Frankfort Township and a section of Orland Park hold Mokena library cards.
Those library patrons are borrowing a lot of books, but they also are coming in for specialized programs.
A recent Teen Coffee House featured a presentation about holiday traditions.
Programs such as Internet training are popular enough to have a waiting list, and story hours for preschool children are booked solid.
The Teen Coffee Houses draw between 30 and 50 children, and 77 showed up for a recent Harry Potter party, said Kathy Wierzbicki, head of youth services.
In the adult reading room, patrons can sink into easy chairs, read by the natural light of huge windows and enjoy a cup of espresso, cappuccino or plain old coffee.
Patrons appreciate those touches, but they are looking for high-tech amenities too. The biggest challenge in running a library is “without a doubt, technology,” Jacobek said. “The demands have increased tenfold.”
The collection of books on tape, long popular with commuters, is being supplements with books on CD-ROM.
Community gathering places
The library also serves as a meeting place for a variety of groups, including the Mokena Historical Society. “They thought that the library would be a very good place to be,” Jacobek said.
Village Trustee Joe Werner is one of the members of the Mokena Historical Society working on a plan to set up a history room to display town artifacts. Besides the interest from society members, the library’s “open hours and the diversity of people that come through” make it the ideal location, he said.
The vision for the library was that “this would be a cultural center,” Jacobek said, “and it is.”
Detlev Pansch, administrative librarian at the Frankfort Public Library, shares that vision.
“The library is moving more into the realm of becoming a cultural center,” Pansch said, “not just a warehouse for books.”
Original art hangs on the library walls, and the grounds surrounding the building at 21119 S. Pfeiffer Rd. include a sculpture garden, a prairie restoration, an outdoor reading area and a hill where daffodils blossom in the spring.
Circulation is up
As in New Lenox and Mokena, the Frankfort Public Library gets a lot of visitors. Circulation has risen by 12 percent in the last year, Pansch said, from 146,468 to 176,586.
The population in the library district, which encompasses Frankfort and unincorporated areas in Frankfort Township and Cook County, has grown by about 4,000. The library building has grown, too, with a 1999 expansion project that doubled the public space, Pansch said.
“With the addition, we should be fine for a few years, but there’s been no drop-off in growth,” he said. “All of our resources are being used more and more. The trick will be to keep up.”
One of the growing demands is for Internet service. “The whole center of the library has computer stations,” he said. “We’ve kept up with our computing.”
But demand for books also is high. Computers are popular, but they are unlikely to do away with books, Pansch said.
“Film didn’t do away with theater,” he said. “Television didn’t do away with movies.”
In addition to Internet research stations, the Frankfort library also has an archival room for the many residents interested in genealogy.
A bookmobile bought 18 months ago also brings the library to the schools and neighborhoods.
“We do phenomenal circulation off the bookmobile,” Pansch said, explaining that 49,705 items were borrowed from the vehicle last year.
Pansch expects the Frankfort library to be a popular gathering place for years to come. “People feel comfortable coming here to get what they need,” he said.
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Read all about them
Here is information about the three libraries:
Mokena Community Library, 11327 W. 195th St., Mokena. Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Call 708-479-9663 or go to www.mokena.lib.il.us.
New Lenox Public Library, 120 Veterans Pkwy., New Lenox. Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 815-485-2605 or go to www.newlenox.lib.il.us.
Frankfort Public Library, 21119 Pfeiffer Rd., Frankfort. Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 815-469-2423 or go to www.frankfort.lib.il.us.
