LIBRARY REVIEW: Deerfield’s renovated library is impressive

BY ED COLLINS

Have you seen our wonderfully restored Deerfield Public Library yet? It is now open for business after being renovated for the past year. And its one we can be very proud of.

“On time and on budget. It’s a promise we kept,” Library Board President Ken Abosch told a large crowd of eager readers and well wishers at the Grand Reopening of the library Sunday afternoon, June 23.

We have come a long way as a community since November 2010 when local voters passed a $12 million referendum to refurbish our library at 920 Waukegan Road. Abosch said after 40 years the structure was showing wear and tear, and it failed to conform to federal codes of the American Disability Act or local fire and life safety codes.

It took excellent planning and lots of hard work by the Library Board, Director Mary Pergander, and her team of librarians to pull this off. The temporary library at Cadwell Corners this past year successfully continued library services for the community while contractors gutted the 920 Waukegan Road building - then put it back together again -  but in a much more attractive and functional way.

Mayor Harriet Rosenthal and Village government were solid backers from the beginning, helping the Library Board through the building permit and zoning hurdles, then to obtain project financing.

Architects PSA-Dewberry, who also designed the impressive Glenview Public Library, along with Mortensen Company the contractor, did quality work in expanding the building’s shell by 10,000 sq. ft. but squeezed it on the same sized lot. Deerfield now enjoys a public amenity that few communities in our state can match.

Many of you attended the impressive Grand Reopening Sunday afternoon. Yes, the weather was hot, some of the speeches were long, and you probably jostled to catch a view of the ribbon cutting area. Then you probably took a guided tour of the refurbished two-level building. But the large crowd was patient and good-natured.  The turnout was a respectful tribute to those who had worked so hard on our behalf over the past three years.

For those of you who still haven’t visited the new facility yet, you are in for a treat. You should be aware that there’s limited parking in the same location but with a new traffic flow pattern.

Two convenient book drop boxes are now in place in the parking lot for easy drop-offs.

The front entrance to the library is no long in the middle of the building. It’s now near the northwest corner of the building near Jewett Park.

The architects added an extra 5,000 sq. ft. at each end of the building’s small lot on its east-west axis. On the east side in the Lower Level they added a Quiet Room for undisturbed adult reading time. There are also eight study rooms scattered throughout the building.

On the west side architects added three spacious meeting rooms that can be divided into three smaller rooms. Community non-profits and service clubs can reserve them with advance notice. One spacious elevator that can accommodate a wheelchair also connects the Main Level to the Lower Level. There are also stairs in the middle of the building, similar to the old building. It’s too bad they didn’t install an escalator for us seniors with wobbly legs.  

Once you enter the Library on the Main Level you will notice an information/help desk. Here’s the place to ask questions or just say hello to the friendly staff. Turn left (east) and you will notice some automatic checkout machines and a busy book return receptacle.

A Media Center contains take-out CD’s, DVD’s and other visual materials. Just a bit further is the Teen book center. Keep heading east to the far end of the building where you will find the Youth Services and Children’s Center that looks out on Waukegan Road through floor to ceiling glass windows. It’s sure to be a popular hangout with the kids (and their parents).

Also on the Main Level is the Periodicals area. It seems rather small but provides a few comfortable chairs for reading the morning paper or your favorite magazines. Work areas for staff, ADA-approved rest rooms, and a Program-meeting room fill the balance of the Main Level.

Downstairs in the Lower Level you will find a spacious Computer Lab with a generous number of desktop computers, and the Adult Services area that offers an expansive collection of fiction and non-fiction. The Quiet Room, at the east end of the building (under the Children’s Center upstairs) is just the place to do some serious and uninterrupted reading.

The Library Improvement project team has earned the community’s thanks for a job well done. We can be very appreciative and proud of our Library Board and its professional staff for their three years of dedicated efforts. Thank you for giving Deerfield a magnificent legacy that makes our hometown an even better place to live.