Palatine library opens new North Hoffman Branch

Palatine Public Library officials celebrated the opening Monday of their new North Hoffman Branch, a 1,248-square-foot space on the lower level of the Willow Recreation Center.

The new branch replaces the library district’s Freeman Road Branch, which was forced to close last month because the building that housed it fell into foreclosure.

Because of the foreclosure, library district officials negotiated a deal with the Hoffman Estates Park District to use space inside the recreation center at 3600 Lexington Drive, about a mile away from the Freeman Road Branch.

Though slightly smaller than the Freeman Road facility, the new branch will include similar materials, as well as computers, programs and a walk-up book drop at the front of the building. Its hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The branch is closed Sundays.

The library district will lease the space for three years at an annual cost of $31,200, which is about $14,000 less than it was spending yearly under the most recent lease for the Freeman Road Branch.

Nearly 68,000 visitors went to the Freeman Road Branch in the library district’s 2009-10 fiscal year, and library trustee hope those visitors, along with new patrons, will utilize the new branch.

For more information, visit palatinelibrary.org.