Lisle Library to reopen as work continues

When the Lisle Library re-opens Saturday, following the first of two 2-day closings, it will do so with a bright, vibrant new youth services department and a spruced up adult fiction section.

Spokeswoman Rhonda Snelson said children and their parents have been watching renovations to the youth services area take shape for the past two weeks, but still will be surprised Saturday.

"Seeing it progress in bits and pieces is one thing, but when it all comes together for them with this lovely colorful carpet and adorable purple chairs, mouths are going to drop," Snelson said Thursday. "It's a really neat environment we've created for our young readers."

As the youth service employees dusted and vacuumed every book Thursday, crews began installing new carpeting in the foyer and the audio-visual and adult fiction areas. A new service desk also is being installed.

The project will continue next week and the library will be closed again Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Snelson said the library will be open through Wednesday and then will re-open on Feb. 2, with the east half of the library completely renovated. Youth services will be completed, the audio-visual and fiction sections will be back in their places, and the new service desk will be staffed.

A wall has been erected at the location of the former circulation desk, isolating the adult non-fiction area, which will be undergoing renovations through March.

The work is part of a $1.5 million project, begun in August, to bring the facility's interior and technology up to date for the first time since the 27-year-old library at 777 Front St. was last renovated in the late 1980s.