With everything we have encountered over the past year, March 17, 2020 seems like a lifetime ago—but that day kept many of our staff going throughout the toughest days of the pandemic. Why?
March 17, 2020 was the day the Library’s Referendum passed!
We have been using the past year to reassess and plan our upcoming steps, which all tie back to the promises we made leading up to that fortunate election day.
Our promises were threefold:
Be open Sundays, extend weekday hours
The New Lenox Public Library District Board of Trustees voted to approve Sunday hours at the July Board Meeting. As a result, New Lenox Public Library will be open from 1–5 pm on Sundays starting on Sunday, September 12, 2021.
We are planning to initiate earlier weekday hours in the Spring. Stay tuned!
Expand and improve services
This fiscal year’s budget includes a significant increase to the physical and digital collections to diminish wait times on materials.
We have also streamlined departments, updated job descriptions, and hired a new Outreach Coordinator to sustain and establish good working relationships with our community businesses and organizations. With this, we are planning to conduct more Homebound visits and create a more regular schedule to provide Library services at facilities, such as daycares and assisted living facilities.
A new Digital Media Lab Coordinator was hired to improve our maker services and offerings that were previously limited. We are ecstatic about our increased ability to serve our community where they need us.
Proactively maintain our building
Nobody enjoys sitting in a building when the temperatures rise into the mid 80s or higher! Since we finally have the funding to do so, we are in the process of receiving bids for a replacement of our HVAC units that are beyond their serviceable lifespan. They will be installed and ready to operate for the first warm day of 2022.
In addition to ensuring the building is comfortable for patrons, we are embarking on the first phase of a multiyear building remodel that will include the foyer, lobby, and Patron Services area. We are hoping to upgrade the heavy front entrance doors with automatic ones, replace worn out carpet, potentially add more meeting room space, update the Friends of the Library store space, create a more accessible space for checking out materials and picking up holds, and increase our capacity for collaborative programming.
The meeting rooms have already had their carpeting replaced. Join a program or club to check it out!
Thank you!
We told you what would happen if you voted yes, and we are holding tight to those promises and keeping our word. Thanks to our supportive community, New Lenox’s future is bright!
Michelle Krooswyk
Executive Director
New Lenox Public Library District
815-485-2605 ext. 101
mkrooswyk@newlenoxlibrary.org
