Indian Trails Library moving to Buffalo Grove during renovation
The Indian Trails Library will have a temporary home in Buffalo Grove as its main building undergoes $14.4 million in renovations, library officials said.
Library Director Brian Shepard told the Buffalo Grove village board last week that operations will close at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at 355 Schoenbeck Road in Wheeling.
On Monday, April 4, the library will open at 70 W. Dundee Road in the Dundee Point Shopping Center on the northwest corner of Buffalo Grove and Dundee roads. It will be in a space that once housed Community Threads. About 40 percent of the library's physical collection will be at the site.
During the two-week closing, hours at the library's Prospect Heights branch, 99 E. Palatine Road, will be extended.
“If everything goes according to plan, spring 2017 we will be reopening at our location at 355 Schoenbeck,” Shepard said.
On Saturday, April 2, library officials will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. at the Schoenbeck site. They will also hold a public sale of furniture and equipment from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Shepard said the project has been in the works for more than five years and has involved collecting information through community surveys and the participation of community focus groups. The current building is outdated, he said, and noted there is no way to centrally control electricity.
“Our building was built in 1981, when electricity was cheap and gas (heat) was expensive. At the time, they made the decision to go with a full electric building without centralized heat. Everything is actually baseboard (heated),” he said.
The new building will have a “middle ground” space that will allow middle schoolchildren to gather and study while also interacting with friends, watching videos, using computers and playing games. It will address the fact that studying isn't done in a linear fashion, he said.
“They are talking with friends, they are watching YouTube videos and then they are actually getting some studying in somewhere in there. And they are going to be able to do all of that in the middle ground space in the library,” Shepard said.
The second floor, he said, will offer eight study rooms that could also provide space for business meetings.
Shepard assured the board that books will remain prominent.
“Books are not going anywhere,” he said. “They are still very much a part of the public library.”
More information is at www.itpld.org/renovation.