Work hurts circulation at Cook Memorial library

The Cook Memorial Public Library District's circulation has dropped about 12 percent since construction projects forced patrons to use two temporary facilities, newly released statistics show.

Officials with the Libertyville-based district aren't concerned, however. Acting Director Mary Ellen Stembal said her staff had expected the construction-related drop in business to be much worse, as much as 33 percent.

"We were pleasantly surprised it's stayed as high as it is," Stembal said.

Stembal expects usage to rebound - and then some - once a new, 20,000-square-foot library opens on Aspen Drive in Vernon Hills, and then again when the renovated Cook Park Library reopens.

The Vernon Hills library should be ready for patrons in June, and the Libertyville facility in October. Once both full-service facilities are running, Stembal thinks circulation will skyrocket to more than 2 million items per year, which would be a record for the nearly century-old library system.

"Continuing to see our circulation increase is a validation for us that we're providing what people want and need," she said.

The historic Cook Park library closed in June 2009 to make room for construction crews working on an 11,000-square-foot expansion. A temporary library opened in a vacant storefront on Milwaukee Avenue days later.

In Vernon Hills, patrons have been using a temporary facility in the basement of village hall for years.

Between July 2009 - the first full month of operations for the temporary Libertyville library - and February 2010, patrons checked out about 932,611 books, DVDs and other materials from all of Cook Memorial's facilities.

That includes the Vernon Hills branch on Evergreen Avenue and the bookmobile.

During the same eight-month period a year earlier, patrons borrowed an estimated 1 million items.

The drop exclusively reflects decreased activity in Libertyville. In Vernon Hills, circulation actually increased in each of those eight months.

For example, patrons checked out more than 26,000 items there in February, an estimated 32 percent more than were borrowed in February 2009.

Board member Ann E. Oakley attributed the spike to Vernon Hills residents who used to travel north to the Cook Park site, but now are staying local and using the facility at village hall.

"A lot of individuals from Vernon Hills were probably coming to the Cook Park location because of its size... and they don't have that ability (now)," she said.

Additionally, the operating hours of the Vernon Hills library were expanded during construction to meet patron needs, Stembal said.

"I think the (extra) hours helped," she said.

Cook Memorial patrons borrowed about 1.6 million items in 2009. This year, that figure probably will be about 1.4 million.

A jump to 2 million "would be great," Stembal said.

Libertyville resident Irene Hahn is among the Cook Memorial patrons eager for the construction projects to end. As she hung out in the small children's section at the temporary Libertyville facility with her 12-month-old daughter Cara and 3-year-old son Matthew, Hahn said she's looking forward to the larger children's department at the Cook Park library.

"Sometimes (this library) is a little too chaotic for us to stay," she said of the temporary facility.

Patron Tami Harrison is looking forward to having more materials to choose from - especially in the kids department. Many items in the Cook Memorial collection are being stored in a warehouse and are only available through a computerized reserve system until the new buildings open.

"It'll be nice to have the whole section available to us," said Harrison, of Vernon Hills.