Goal of St. Charles library renovation: More of everything, in a 'neighborhood campus'

St. Charles Public Library Director Edith Craig knows her patrons want more of everything.

They want more programs, more materials, more community space. They want accessibility and convenience. They want innovation, but they also want quintessential quiet nooks where they can study, stream videos and read for hours.

Those desires are the basis around which officials created an $18.6 million plan to gut, renovate and expand the library at 1 S. Sixth St.

The project, which is in a schematic design phase, includes reconfiguring and modernizing the space to include a new entrance, a drive-up window, an outdoor patio and a first-floor “grand reading room” with fireplaces, tables and furniture, Craig said. Staff offices will be pushed to the outskirts of the building, she said, making the layout more efficient and keeping public areas in the “heart of the library.”

Upgrades also include a makerspace, new meeting rooms, additional study rooms, updated infrastructure and a sunken terraced garden for outdoor programming. Roughly 9,000 square feet will be added to the facility, Craig said, and a new site plan calls for creating additional parking and green space.

“We want to make this like a neighborhood campus — bike friendly, pedestrian friendly,” she said. “As soon as you step foot into the library area, you're going to know you're in a welcoming, friendly environment.”

The library's historic original Carnegie Building also will be incorporated into the renovation plans, mostly as a quiet research and study area, she said. That space was constructed in 1908, with major additions completed in the 1960s and 1980s.

The library board started exploring expansion and renovation plans more than a decade ago in response to St. Charles' “growing and changing population,” officials said.

In 2010, the library requested a tax increase to fund a $35 million project that would upgrade the building and more than double its size. Voters shot down the proposal, putting construction plans on hold and prompting the library to start setting aside funds for a future project.

Officials went back to the drawing board and presented revised concept plans to the board in 2013. But the project was halted once again when projected costs came in “way over budget,” Craig said.

When Craig started as director in fall of 2016, she said, she started from square one with community surveys, focus groups, interviews and a new strategic plan.

She presented the board with two options: The library could either build a new facility and lightly touch up its existing building, or it could invest in its existing space “and make this building last another hundred years.”

Trustees chose the latter.

“The board agreed with me that we can do everything we need to within our current footprint and just expand a little,” Craig said.

The new layout will allow for some growth and flexibility, she said, while also making it easier to complete a future expansion if necessary. The library typically sees about 1,000 patrons on weekdays.

Officials have been able to save about $13.6 million in reserves to help fund the project. The library recently issued $5 million in debt certificates to cover the remaining costs. That money will be paid off over the next five years without raising taxes, Craig said.

Trustees and staff members are working with architects to finalize building plans and hope to break ground on the yearlong construction project next spring. The board this week gave Craig the green light to pursue an agreement with St. Charles Unit District 303, which would allow the library to temporarily relocate within the former Haines Middle School.

Craig also is offering informational tours to answer questions about the project and give community members an inside look at library operations. The tours are scheduled for 2 p.m. July 16 and 10 a.m. Aug. 17.

Additional information about the project can be found on the library's website at www.scpld.org/library-renovation-project.

Renovate: Original Carnegie Building to become mostly a quiet research, study area