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Algonquin library board finds new director from within

An earlier version of this story should have read the library district has nearly 24,000 card-carrying members.

The Algonquin Area Public Library District didn't have to look far for its new director.

The library board Wednesday night appointed Stephen Bero as executive director. Bero has been serving as the interim administrative librarian since October following the retirement of Lynn Elam a month earlier.

Bero himself retired in July 2014 after 23 years in library service, and nearly 10 years as executive director of Warren-Newport Public Library in Gurnee.

"The staff here is really the main reason I'm coming out of retirement," said Bero, 60, of Round Lake. "The board has been very supportive. I see some real opportunities here."

The library board hired John Keister & Associates of Vernon Hills to find qualified candidates for the job. Board members interviewed four applicants last Friday, but decided the fit wasn't right and to keep Bero on, board President Lynn Hammerlund said.

"We love him," she said. "He's a wonderful director, and he is doing great things for us."

Bero will mentor assistant administrative librarian Sara Murray, who joined in September, to be his successor, she added.

As interim director, Bero worked 15-20 hours per week. He will begin serving full time starting July 6, overseeing 60 employees.

In retirement, Bero collected a $48,000 pension this year. His director salary will be $135,000 yearly with no added perks. He will stop taking his pension and resume paying into his Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund account, he said.

The Illinois Library Association named Bero the state's librarian of the year for 2014. He previously served as director of the Brookfield Public Library from 2000 to 2004, and before that was head of technology services at Rolling Meadows Library. He was past president of the Library Administrators Conference of Northern Illinois and a member of the Illinois Library Association's Small Public Library Management Institute.

Bero is the fourth director in Algonquin library's 95-year history, said Diane Strzelecki, library spokeswoman.

The library opened in 1920 and became a district in 1962. Its two buildings - the main library at 2600 Harnish Drive, west of the Fox River, and Eastgate Branch, east of the river - serve 40,000 residents of Algonquin and parts of Lake in the Hills, Barrington Hills and Cary. The district has 24,000 patrons.

Bero said the district has some challenges with improving its two buildings, which he plans to tackle once five new trustees are seated on the seven-member board next month.

"We've had two renovation projects over the last two years. The work is not yet done," he said.

There is a need for more collaborative spaces, makerspaces - technology areas housing sound or art studios, and computer-aided design programs - and more meeting rooms, he said.

"I'm urging (the board) to look at that very closely (and) come up with a master plan that is going to cover both facilities," Bero said. "The public really thinks and uses the library as a third space."

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