Prospect Hts. library hopes land deal fixes parking shortage

There are more patrons than parking spots some days at the Prospect Heights Public Library, say officials who hope to change that by buying a neighboring property and turn it into an overflow parking lot.

Dave Yager, president of the library's board of trustees, said the board plans to purchase the property at 100 N. Elm St., located just north of the library, to add more parking.

The library board is waiting for the city of Prospect Heights to approve necessary zoning variances and special use permits before voting to purchase the property, Yager said.

Library officials declined to say how much they will spend on the site until after the purchase is complete. Executive Director Alex Todd expects a board vote on the deal later this month.

"We have a contract in place with the current owners and before we close, we want to get all the permits," Todd said. "We wouldn't want to buy it and then find out we couldn't do what we need to with it."

Parking has been hard for patrons and staff to find during popular events and programs, such as a movie showing or a concert, Todd said. The library has to strategically schedule events, such as not hosting multiple programs at the same time, because of parking limitations, he added.

The library currently has 66 parking spaces. Officials hope to add 34 more through the land purchase.

The additional parking is one of several tasks the library is considering to improve its functionality.

At the board's May 27 meeting, trustees approved long-term goals, which include preparing for a 60th anniversary celebration to take place in 2017, replacing all fluorescent light bulbs with LED bulbs in the next four to six months, and renovating lobby restrooms.

Officials also hope to reach out to local businesses in the next year, to bring awareness about how the library can help them.

Last year, the library completed its goals of creating a drive-up dropbox to return materials, and replacing the roof and heating and air conditioning systems.

Todd said the library also is trying to get more use out of its digital labs, including a 3-D printer.

"We don't have the space that a lot of our neighboring libraries have, but we have a good set up that lets people do a lot, such as transfer their VHS to DVDs to digitize their content," he said.

To Yager, what the library does best is serve its patrons.

"We don't have the biggest budget in the area or all the amenities of some of the bigger and better funded libraries, but our staff bends over backward to help our patrons," he said. "If we don't have it, the staff tries to find out how to get it."