NEW CHAPTER
CHECK OUT THE ST. CHARLES PUBLIC LIBRARY, REOPENED AFTER AN $18.6 MILLION RENOVATION By Jonathan Bilyk | Photos by Shaw Media
T
here was so much at the St. Charles Public Library that Edith Craig couldn’t wait to show off.
For more than a year, the library has undergone a transformation. And Craig, as director of the St. Charles Public Library District, has had a front row seat throughout the long process of helping the venerable old building make the jump to the 21st century — and, perhaps, beyond. “The biggest benefit to our community is caring for a 115-year-old building and its additions, to last 100 more years,” Craig says. While retaining its ties to its deep history, the library now boasts a host of new features,
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designed to meet the needs of today’s patrons of all ages. It reopened to the public in mid-July.
services area, will beckon visitors to perhaps sit for a bit, perhaps with a good book in hand.
The improvements are apparent before visitors even walk in the door.
Inside the library, patrons will find still more inviting and welcoming spaces, Craig says. The library’s interior was fully gutted and rebuilt, allowing a new design that Craig says allows the library to “maximize patron space.”
Visitors will find more parking and safer pedestrian access to the library, thanks to a new main entrance on the library’s east wall. Depending on their needs, some visitors will not even need to exit their vehicles: The library now includes a drive-up window for pickup and return. Craig notes the exterior of the library was beautified with “prairie and meadow river plantings,” while a new sunken terrace garden, just outside the library’s lower-level youth
Children and parents, for instance, will find “more interactive play, more study spaces, more places to meet up with groups.” Teens will find “a dedicated enclosed room that will allow them to game, study and collaborate,” Craig says. And library users of all ages will find enhanced seating opportunities throughout the library,
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