NEW CHAPTER

CHECK OUT THE ST. CHARLES PUBLIC LIBRARY, REOPENED AFTER AN $18.6 MILLION RENOVATION

By Jonathan Bilyk | Photos by Shaw Media

There 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, designed to meet the needs of today’s patrons of all ages. It reopened to the public in mid-July. The improvements are apparent before visitors even walk in the door.

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 services area, will beckon visitors to perhaps sit for a bit, perhaps with a good book in hand. 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.” 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,

including a new “grand reading room” and access to what the library calls its new STC Creative “makerspace.” STC Creative offers studios for creativity of all kinds. The space, for instance, will include a sound studio to aid in such digital ventures as podcasting, and tools for physical media — Cricut, Brother ScanNCut, 3D printers, heat press, Xyron Creative Station and 28-inch vinyl cutter, among others. St. Charles Public Library IT Educator Sarah Pistilli says the creation of STC Creative was guided by what library administrators learned from Making+Learning, an agreement between the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Pistilli says the library then searched out other “makerspaces” in other libraries throughout the Chicago area and in other states. “This helped me compile a list of equipment and programs offered by other libraries,” Pistilli says. “The equipment chosen for STC Creative are items commonly found in other makerspaces and items that fit well into the size of our space.” But some of the biggest changes may have occurred in the parts of the library that visitors don’t necessarily see, but most definitely feel. Along with patron spaces, the library’s physical plant was also transformed, with an eye toward efficiency and accessibility. The building was redesigned to allow for more natural light on all three floors, even in the lower level. All light fixtures are now energy efficient LEDs.

The library’s heating, cooling and ventilation system was also overhauled, with a new system that pumps in 30% more fresh air — an unexpectedly key feature to mitigate the spread of airborne infectious diseases, such as the coronavirus. Staff spaces were moved largely behind the scenes, Craig says, leaving “the heart of the library for the public to enjoy.” Craig notes the library further boosted its accessibility for all patrons, as well, with more ramps and an elevator that reaches all three floors. Visitors will find more handicapped-accessible parking and better seating for patrons of all physical abilities throughout. Technological access and ease were also at the heart of the project, Craig says. For instance, a new radio frequency identification system enables the library to immediately check in all materials returned by patrons, speeding the borrow and return process. The project is the result of years of preparation, dating back to 2008. All told, the project cost $18.6 million, primarily funded through money the library had saved through the years. About $5 million was funded through a bond sale in 2019. During the renovation, the library shifted operations to a temporary site at Haines Middle School in St. Charles, a space just a quarter of the size of the usual digs. Craig notes the project broke ground just as the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. But the work did not stop. She says the project came in on budget and on time, in large part “because of the dedication of the full project team and partners — and sprinkle that with luck.”

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