Gail Borden library branch coming to South Elgin

Within a year - and possibly this fall - South Elgin will have a library branch, officials announced Thursday.

The estimated $1.4 million project by the Gail Borden Public Library District will come at no increased cost to taxpayers and was made possible by a donation by The Hoffer Foundation of South Elgin, officials said.

"This was a dream of ours for a long time," library board President Jean Bednar said.

The South Elgin branch will be at 121 S. McLean Blvd., in a new building just south of Butera Market. The library will occupy 4,200 square feet in the building that currently contains a financial services office and empty office space.

Technology will make materials available for checkout after hours and a meeting room will have a separate entrance, also accessible after hours, Bednar said. "We will make the most use of this space even in the dark of the night," she said.

The library will contribute a yet-unspecified amount of funds out of its reserves, library Executive Director Carole Medal said. The majority of the project will be funded by the donations from The Hoffer Foundation and other donors, library spokeswoman Denise Raleigh added.

"Trying to enhance the educational process for our employees and for the community is really central to our mission," Hoffer Foundation President and CEO William Hoffer said. The foundation is the charitable arm of Hoffer Plastics, also in South Elgin.

This will be Gail Borden's second branch; the Rakow branch opened in 2009 at 751 W. Bowes Rd. in Elgin.

South Elgin Village President Steve Ward expressed his gratitude to the library district. "Everyone in this town can benefit from a library," he said, adding there is "an unbelievable amount of people" within a one-mile radius of the new branch.

The village will contribute $90,000 in library impact fees collected over the last 15 years, South Elgin Village Administrator Steve Super said.

Gail Borden Public Library District Foundation member Jack Shales, who has a personal relationship with the Hoffer family, helped lobby for the project, Bednar said.

"I just hope there are lots of families and kids and parents who can make lot of memories here," Shales said.

The library foundation will donate a book for every South Elgin student, up to $25,000 worth, who completes the district's summer reading challenge, foundation President Jerry Turnquist said.

Eligible are students from South Elgin's three elementary schools plus Kenyon Woods Middle School and South Elgin High School.

The library board is expected to approve in May a contract for architectural drawings with Chicago-based StudioGC Architecture & BIM, whose team leader is former library board President Rick McCarthy, Raleigh said. The library will seek bids for the interior construction project, she said.