Wheaton council hears library's plan to update existing space

In an effort to make the Wheaton Public Library “the front porch of the community” again, some subtle and gradual changes are coming, according to a consultant who presented plans for the library's future to the Wheaton City Council this week.

Rick McCarthy of Studio GC, an organization that specializes in library design, said even though the library is relatively new, it still needs to be maintained, updated and “re-imagined” to better serve the community.

“Times are moving and we need to keep up with them,” he said. “It really is increasingly about not just what the library holds, but what actually happens within the library.”

Library Director Betsy Adamowski said when she started working for the library two years ago, one of her tasks was to take a look at the building and see “how it was working for us, seeing what we were doing with it.”

She said hiring Studio GC helped with that analysis, and after many months of discussions they were able to determine a way to improve the library at a minimal cost.

Some changes that may be coming in the near future include making the first floor a “much more active space,” with rearranged bookshelves, larger monitors with higher-end graphic software in a technology area and the opening of a new cafe on the western end of the building.

There are plans to place some large print books on the first floor and open a self-service suite, where patrons can check out and return books themselves, which McCarthy said will save staff time and money.

A drive-up book drop on the exterior of the building is another first-floor idea, along with the purchase of bookshelves on wheels that could be pushed out of the way to create room for special events.

Once those changes are made, library officials hope to also explore the possibility of adding more study rooms on the second floor, improving the genealogy section, updating the children's area and creating spaces that might hold audio and visual equipment or allow for new educational programming, such as cooking classes. Those additions will cost more money than the first phase of work, but McCarthy said none of the proposals are “exorbitant projects.”

“These are all the kinds of things that libraries all over the place are doing,” he said. “I think they all would give meaningful increases in service.”

McCarthy said the library needs to do something about its below-average number of library card holders.

“You've got a core of really active users at the library, who use it a lot, but there are a whole bunch of people in town that don't feel the library offers something to them and they don't bother to get a library card,” he said.

McCarthy said the library needs to pay attention to teens and the self-employed.

The city has an above-average number of residents — about 2,900 — who are self-employed, McCarthy said. Those people are likely working from home, but they are looking for places where they could do video conferencing, meet with clients and take part in mentoring opportunities.

Teens are important because they are pointing the way to the libraries of the future, he said.

“If we don't look at them and serve them well now, we are not going to be a relevant institution for them now or as they get older,” he said. “They really are kind of setting the bar for us.”