Lisle Library ready to open after renovation

Innovative design and determination can achieve amazing results.

Take, for example, the eight-month renovation project nearing completion at the Lisle Library, 777 Front St.

"We are very excited and want all of our patrons to come back," library Director Bill Strecker said.

"We know people have stayed away because certain parts of the collection have not been available all the time, but now everything is available and staff is ready to help them any way we can."

The inspired plan is the work of architect Jim Filliung and his firm, Larson Darby LZT/Filliung, with general contractor Walter Daniels Construction Company.

The library's main floor, which originally was built in 1981, received a complete overhaul. The building's 30,000 square feet was spruced up with new carpeting, fresh paint, improved lighting, accurate climate control and comfy lounge chairs.

Many patrons are saying it's an amazing transformation.

The project was financed with savings in the library's maintenance budget, Strecker said, and cost about $1.5 million.

Although the revamped public areas are fully functioning again, some work still remains, including paving the parking lot, repairing some landscaping and dozens of other smaller "punch list" items.

The first change patrons will encounter is the main entrance on the east side of the building with its extended foyer. A greater separation between the new sets of electronic doors provides better air space for temperature control, public relations coordinator Rhonda Snelson said.

Book returns are located in the foyer, as well as outside at curbside and inside at the circulation desk.

A large spherical carpet pattern suggests movement and energized space. It's comprised of neutral tones accented with cheerful reds and blues. Smaller circular shapes repeat throughout the interior and echo the library's role as a community hub of intellectual development.

"The two patterns in the carpeting, I believe it's called Razzle-Dazzle, takes you places and accentuates the desks," Snelson said. "It should be pretty easy to maintain."

A large extended curve forms the main circulation desk, with overhead lights reaching out like spokes on a wheel. An elongated archway leads into the audiovisual area, no longer sectioned off by walls of glass or in need of its own checkout desk.

The original quiet room to the left is divided into two group study rooms that will be available for small meetings. The collection's newest materials and its fiction books are found in this area.

"We always bring in new books," Snelson said. "We feel our patrons will really like our new wall of biographies, too."

All the original shelving was reused, lowered by one shelf, spaced further apart and given stylish end caps. Walking between rows is less claustrophobic nowadays.

"The highest shelf we had was not very user friendly and now books are more reachable," Snelson said. "We did some necessary weeding of the collection."

Within the nonfiction area the stacks flare out revealing luscious open spaces where even a wheelchair can maneuver a turn.

"The room between the stacks allows us the possibility to put some seating in some of the larger areas, but we will wait and see if it's needed" Strecker said. "We don't want to just fill it up."

The total feeling is spacious, although only 250 square feet was added to the original configuration.

"Before you had the feeling the library was bursting; that it could not possibly accommodate even one more book," Snelson said.

Part of the feeling of grandeur comes from a new 50-foot atrium shatterproof window that bumps out five feet. Clusters of lounge chairs and rows of small table-and-chair sets enjoy the window's northern exposure that fills the area with soft, natural light. A long stretch of low magazine shelving invites patrons to sit and read.

At the nucleus of the nonfiction section is an impressive, manned, circular help station. A dozen computer stations are grouped nearby with proper wiring and conveniently spaced printers.

The reader adviser's desk is in the center of the library. This individual is versed on the library's collective 165,000 items and helps patrons find what they need.

Across the way is a room devoted to learning literary skills. The new quiet room has a bright outside window, quite a positive change from its former dark interior location.

The building is ADA compliant, with a convenient elevator adjoining the community meeting rooms.

A world of inspiration awaits young people on the second floor, where teen and tot areas are clearly defined. There is more color, tub chairs, a children's AV section and improved areas to display art. No longer will children need to use a step stool to check out their books since the new circulation desk in the youth area is lower.

With the library complete, the two gerbils, Marsh and Mello, and turtles, Jack and Jill, have returned home. The community rooms are holding activities, the summer reading program is in the works and the Friends of the Library group is able to hold its Sunday programming at the facility.

Before the reconstruction, roughly 18,000 patrons visited the library each month. With the enhancements, officials hope more will come to enjoy all the library has to offer.

Some details still need attention, such as added signage and hanging pictures. The U-shaped driveway at 777 Front St. is now for staff parking. All patron parking is up the drive closest to the main entrance.

For details about the library, visit www.lislelibrary.org or call (630) 971-1675.

"We have gotten nothing but positive comments, and some patrons have told us the renovations exceeded their expectations," Strecker said. "It really feels like a whole new location."