Fremont library officials considering changing checkout stations

Proposed changes for Fremont Public Library will create a one-stop service center for patrons.

Since the library building opened in 2001 at 1170 N. Midlothian Road in Mundelein, patrons have checked out books in one location, paid fines at another and obtained library cards or picked up reserved items at a third spot.

Under the proposal being developed, all of those tasks will be handled at a single area, Director Scott Davis said.

Additionally, the popular DVD and CD collections will be relocated to give them more visibility, Davis said. New shelves that should improve browsing are planned for the CDs and DVDs, too.

The project, which includes other changes, could cost about $200,000, Davis estimated. No numbers have been finalized nor have contractors been hired, he said.

“We are still in the draft stage of things,” Davis said in an e-mail.

The work should start in January and could take three months to complete, library board President Janice Powell said.

Powell believes the project will improve library operations.

“We have gotten so busy, we're asking more and more of the staff,” she said. “Consequently we want to make it as efficient as we can.”

The proposal does not call for self-checkout stations, a service that's become popular at many area libraries.

“Having self-checkout as an option for patrons is definitely a goal, but the fact that we have most of our CDs and DVDs in security cases is an impediment,” he said. “For that we would need a radio frequency identification system, which is a large and expensive project that we are not able to take on at this time.”

The effort will be funded with money from the library's savings, Davis said. A loan or a ballot referendum would not be needed.