How to weigh in on future Fox River Valley library development

A larger selection of books, a wider variety of programs and more study rooms are among the improvements Fox River Valley Public Library District officials may consider in the future.

But they want more input from their residents.

Through Friday, residents can take a "Designing our Future" survey online that allows them to weigh in on the future development of the district's library services, Director Roxane Bennett said.

"We feel that it's really critical that any plans that we develop reflect what the community wants," she said. "This is just the first step of a number of steps in that process."

The survey, which opened last week, has a visual preference component where viewers can choose photos of buildings based on the appearance and styles that they prefer.

"They can give us an idea of what types of buildings they feel might fit into our communities," Bennett said.

Another part of the survey asks residents to provide written feedback on what they like or dislike about the current libraries, as well as how they can be improved.

The district's two existing libraries include the Dundee Library, a 25,000-square-foot facility at 555 Barrington Ave. in East Dundee, and the Randall Oaks Library, which leases out 5,000 square feet of space at 500 N. Randall Road in West Dundee.

Those facilities, which have limited space and few group meeting rooms, do not fully meet the need of the 70,000 residents within the district, said Cris Cigler, the district's manager of public relations and outreach.

To accommodate that, the library district is considering building a new, larger library on the west side of the district, as well as improving or expanding the Dundee Library on the east side, Bennett said.

Additionally, the district wants to add more programs and services based on what residents want or need, she said. Some ideas that have been suggested in the past include a teen center, a digital lab, a MakerSpace or a job center.

"We want to know what services people wish we offered that we don't," Bennett said.

In April, Library Planning Associates, Inc. completed a needs assessment, which concluded that the district needs more group and meeting space, more programs and a larger collection of books.

"Part of what we're doing now is actually validating that study," Bennett said. "We're engaging in the discussion with the community."

During the next six months, library staff will continue to gather feedback and form a development plan that could be presented next spring, Bennett said, at which point, residents would be asked to provide more feedback.

The district will also hold in-person sessions, where residents can discuss the improvements they'd like to see, she said. The next public session will take place Oct. 13.

"We want to make sure that when we spend money, we spend it on something that will make the libraries useful for the long-term," Bennett said. "That's the best use of the money that the taxpayers entrust in us to provide services."

The online survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/designing-our-future.