Arlington Heights Memorial Library mulls northern branch

Officials at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library are mulling a library branch in the northern part of the village.

Executive Director Jason Kuhl said the staff and library board are having "preliminary discussions" and doing a feasibility study on the idea. Opening a branch could still be a year away, he added.

"This has been in the talking stage for years, but things are starting to move along," Kuhl said.

He said the library is taking note of demographic shifts in the village, and especially the growth on the north side, where additions are being built on Ivy Hill and Olive-Mary Stitt schools and one is planned for Thomas Middle School.

The Arlington Heights Memorial Library is just north of downtown, but Kuhl said a new outpost would be about tapping into the "convenience factor" young families need.

Close to 54,000 Arlington Heights residents have library cards, and Kuhl said nearly 90,000 people attended programs at the library in 2015.

He said the library has had to turn people away from children's storytime sessions - even though it holds at least 12 sessions each week.

"We just need more facilities at the times when people need them," he said. "We're so busy here at the library that we're kind of at capacity for a lot of things."

Kuhl said the library would look to rent space, not construct a new building. He said the staff is looking at spaces that are 5,700 square feet or larger - more for programs than just to store more books.

"A lot of this too is the shift from libraries being the repository for materials to being an educational institution where people come and do things," Kuhl added.

Officials have not yet determined an exact location or how much a new branch might cost.

The issue is not on the agenda for the May library board meeting because it is still in the strategic planning phase, but Kuhl said residents may start to hear more about the expansion later this year or early next year.

The library currently is experimenting with extended hours on the weekends, which began in March.

Kuhl said so far the library has seen more people each weekend and gotten "a lot of positive feedback."