Gail Borden Public Library District’s South Elgin Branch will close for nearly a year starting Monday for renovation work that will nearly triple patron space and provide several new amenities.
“People are going to love this new and improved library,” library district CEO Carole Medal said.
Once construction is finished in summer 2025, the branch will have an enlarged children’s area; a larger meeting room; more study rooms; a baby garden; and a wellness/parents/staff room.
The branch’s popularity has been growing, with attendance hitting 41,591 in the last fiscal year, according to library spokeswoman Denise Raleigh.
“With the growth of the community, we expect that the renovated, expanded space will attract an ever-increasing audience of library users,” she said.
The district purchased the 12,466-square-foot building at 127 S. McLean Blvd. in 2015 and opened the South Elgin Branch in July 2016.
The purchase was significantly funded through major donations from the Hoffer Family Foundation and Jack and Marlene Shales, among others, but the library branch initially opened with only about a third of the building’s space available for public use because of budget constraints at the time.
Raleigh said the expansion is expected to cost about $4 million, with construction starting after Labor Day.
Initially it was thought that part of the funding would come from a $2.4 million grant included in a 2023 federal omnibus bill secured by U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Schaumburg.
“After spending many months trying to make this construction project work under HUD grant requirements, it was determined that this grant would be a more effective fit for funding programs,” Raleigh said. “So now the expansion project will be funded (with reserve money) as had been the plan prior to receiving the federal grant.”
While construction takes place, South Elgin branch staff will be temporarily relocated to the library district’s Rakow Branch library on Bowes Road in Elgin, the main Gail Borden library branch in downtown Elgin and to mobile services as needed.
The book return at the South Elgin branch will continue to operate during the project. And the Gail Borden bookmobile will visit the branch parking lot from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays starting Wednesday, Sept. 4.
The district is also offering naming opportunities for the branch’s features to help fund the expansion.
“We are grateful for the people who have already come forward to sponsor patio benches, a hydration station, leaves on a donor tree and other features,” Raleigh said. “And we will proudly carry the names of those who helped fund the branch opening forward in their designated fashion with the expansion.”
For more information about becoming a donor, go to gailborden.info/foundation/southelginbranch.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
