Tiny expansion afoot for Huntley library district

The Huntley Area Public Library District may soon incorporate 10 houses that don’t fall into any library district.

A public library has never served the two-mile area south of Freeman Road and north of Big Timber Road, and officials don’t know why — the homes are in Huntley and also in unincorporated Kane County near Gilberts and Huntley.

The library board is due to vote on the matter on April 19.

The area includes 10 homes and the property surrounding it is either vacant or farmland, said Library Director Patrick McDonald. The district also wants first crack at that area in case development comes that way.

“Really, our goal is to make sure that the people in our area have access to books and other materials,” McDonald said.

This all started back in November when the district sent letters to the people in the area and offered them free trials at the library from November through February — only a few people from that area took advantage of the opportunity.

On March 5, the district invited the public to offer community feedback about the expansion, but nobody showed up to comment.

“This was just an area that wasn’t served,” McDonald said. “As far as I know, it’s never been served by a public library.”

The cost to accommodate the 10 households will be minimal and can essentially be done with existing resources and by purchasing additional library cards in bulk.

Right now the district population is 39,023 people and in February, 26,400 people come through its doors to check out nearly 63,000 items.

“So adding 10 residences to that would be a drop in the bucket,” McDonald said.