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News
Past year one of growth for library district : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisPast year one of growth for library district
| But 2009 also brought sadness with the death of long-time Montgomery library advocate
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 1/7/2010
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The past year was a good one in many ways for the Oswego Public Library District.
But, it had its sad times as well, according to Sarah Skilton, director.
Eloise Sullivan, one of the board's Montgomery representatives for several years, died early last year before the new Montgomery branch that she worked for opened in August just north of U.S. Route 30 at Goodwin Drive in the village.
Skilton said Sullivan was a dedicated board member who had worked even before joining the board to get a library for Montgomery. She was able to participate in the design and the groundbreaking and kept an eye on the construction until her death.
Sullivan was replaced by Lloyd Mattingly a library supporter who was on the Montgomery Village Board when land valued at $2 million was donated by the village as the site of the new branch.
Skilton and the entire board was pleased with the completed building when it was officially opened. It was designed with numerous large floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides to take advantage of its unique location and let in lots of light for patrons.
The Montgomery building, which cost just over $7 million, looks out across a natural wetland and the Waubonsie Creek valley to the west that will never be developed.
But, the downtown Oswego branch, now undergoing a major renovation, will not take a back seat to Montgomery. Part of the renovation includes the addition of more windows all the way around the building, including the rear that will give patrons a view of Waubonsie Creek as it flows past on its way to the nearby Fox River.
A three-season porch also is being added to the back of the Oswego building where patrons will be able sit and read or just enjoy nature, Skilton said. The renovation cost is set at $3.8 million, not including the parking lot expansion.
The new architectural design for Oswego copies the Prairie-style architecture of the Montgomery campus and when finished will no longer give the appearance-inside or outside-of a 1964 building with 1981 and 1996 additions.
The building renovation project is on time and scheduled to open this spring, Skilton said.
She said they wanted more natural light coming into the Oswego building so existing windows were expanded and new ones added, some to the front facing Jefferson Street, giving the downtown a view of the new interior. And larger windows at the rear have opened up the Waubonsie Creek view.
"Getting everything moved into the new building and having it open on time was a challenge, but we did it and we came in under budget," Skilton said. Once the Oswego building was empty, renovation work began, she said.
She said other items now at Montgomery such as the antiques and collectibles book collection will be moved back to Oswego, along with the genealogy collection when the refurbished building reopens this spring.
Last year the board approved the purchase of an auto repair and service business east of the library on Ill. Route 25 at U.S. Route 34 and Jefferson Street. When the building is razed, the land and adjoining property will be landscaped and used to expand the library's parking.
Vernita Hettrich, library district board president, said she will be happy to see the former service station come down so the parking lot can be expanded and landscaped.
Once that is done, the newly remodeled building will then be visible from Route 25, Route 34, and Jefferson Street.
Skilton said the library board has been financially conservative and has been able to complete the new branch and still have funds for the Oswego renovation.
"Before we went to referendum for the Montgomery branch, we talked to Steve Larson, our financial consultant. He and the board put together a 10-year plan to see if we could support two construction projects and have adequate operating funds to support two facilities," she said. "With his help, we know we'll have the funds to operate both buildings."
Official: Montgomery land
donation played 'big part'
But things would have been much different without the Montgomery site being donated to the library district.
The donation was announced by Montgomery Village President Marilyn Michelini, who said the land had been received as part of a developers' donation and was valued at $2.2 million.
Skilton said the donation played a big part in voters approving the referendum. And, without the land donation, the building would have been smaller than they wanted, she said.
While the depressed economy has been bad for most people, it helped the library board because it made bidding on the two buildings much more competitive, giving them the lowest costs possible for the work, Skilton noted.
Staffing both buildings will not be a problem and will not require a full staff for each building because some people will be able to work at both sites, Skilton contended.
"As we get closer to opening Oswego, we'll know how many new people we'll need," she said.
She said the library district's entire inventory of materials was moved to Montgomery when Oswego was closed. Between 20,000 and 30,000 books are in storage and will be moved back to Oswego when it reopens. She estimated about 40,000 new books had been purchased over the past two years.
The more popular books and ones by popular authors will be duplicated in both facilities, she said, adding that similar books in some categories will be on the shelves in both.
Friends of the Oswego Library assisted the staff in providing services throughout the year. They provided volunteers to host the library opening, delivered books, and stocked the lobby book sale. This year the Friends provided $6,000 for a new children's book display, programs for Fox Valley Reads, and furniture for the Montgomery Campus.
Further, members of the Friends volunteered more than 100 hours of time during the Montgomery grand opening. Some of them brought high school students with them to help with building tours and kids programs, she noted.
"Any time you open a new building it reaches a new population," Skilton said. "Some new patrons will stay here and some will go back to Oswego . And many people will go back and forth between the two buildings when both are open."
Skilton said she sees the big attraction of the Oswego campus as the new larger windows and the three-season porch on the rear, overlooking the creek.
"The creek was an attraction when the first section was built in 1964," she explained. "This is why it was located downtown."
The hours will be the same at both branches: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.
"It will be up to the board to decide whether they should be changed," she said.
She said the modern technology will be the same at both branches. And neither one will have the old fashioned card catalogs.
But the popular Dewey Decimal System of cataloging books has been retained electronically and can be viewed at computers in both branches as well as on home computers, she added.
"The system is still very relevant and I think Mr. Dewey would be pleased that we are still using his system," she said.
"When you move into a new place you always think of things you missed after the move," she added. "We have put a bulletin board in the Montgomery entrance where patrons can post notices for non-profit group meetings and events."
Although a third campus is not in the immediate plans, there probably will be one in the future.
"It could be in the Plainfield area or further west, wherever growth is most apparent," Skilton said.
Because the district covers a wide geographic area, several smaller neighborhood library campuses can provide better service to patrons, she said.
More than 60,000 now
living in library district
When both buildings are open they will serve more than 60,000 library district residents in Oswego, Montgomery, Boulder Hill, portions of Plainfield, and Oswego Township, and portions of Bristol Township, Wheatland Township, and NaAuSay Township.
When Skilton joined the library in 1994 the district had 26,000 residents. By 1995 when she was named director, the number had increased to 30,000 and today the population has risen to more than 60,000.
Skilton and Hettrich said they were very lucky and thankful that the residents approved the referendum for the Montgomery campus and the Oswego renovation.
Skilton said their goals for 2010 include a successful opening of the renovated downtown Oswego building this spring, expansion of the parking lot at the Oswego facility and increasing their collections to provide more books, audio books, CDs, and DVDs for the patrons.
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