PeoriaStory

Lakeview Library finally open again, but hours reduced

PEORIA  -- Lakeview Library in Peoria is finally open again, with a ribbon cutting celebration set for April 28.  See details below.

But as with the other new and remodeled Peoria libraries,the hours are reduced, causing inconvenience to the public.  The libraries used to be open until 9 p.m., so that public meetings could be held in the evening. Now they're closing at 8 p.m., or earlier, making meeting schedules more problematic.

And they're all closed one day during the weekdays, another inconvenience.

This is done to save staff pay, but is that wise? Is this what the public voted for, when it approved the bonds to build a new library and remodel the others?  I don't think so. -- Elaine Hopkins

Anyway here's the news release on the Lakeview event:

Peoria Public Library Finishes Building Program with Lakeview Branch Grand Opening, Saturday, April 28

 Peoria Public Library will hold a Grand Opening of Lakeview Branch, 1137 W. Lake Avenue, on Saturday, April 28 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:00 a.m. The event marks the final building opening during the $28 million building program that began with the passing of an advisory referendum on April 17, 2007.

Those visiting Lakeview Branch on opening day, Saturday, April 28 can attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:00 a.m. and then enjoy family fun all day. Everyone is eligible to enter door prize drawings for stacks of books or an e-reader.  Then meet “Biscuit” and enjoy storytelling fun with “Storytelling by Linda” at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

Lakeview Branch now will offer the same services and light-filled spaces as the other Peoria Public Library locations. A new central information desk, call center and self-check desk will provide the same convenient service that have been so well-received at other locations. Calls will now be answered behind the scenes in the call center, as they are at each library location, making sure staff can give the public their full attention at the desk.

 Internal spaces have been redesigned to include completely remodeled and enlarged restrooms and a book drop room that will allow staff to discharge and sort returned books behind the scenes. In addition there is now a dedicated storytime room and a single meeting room as well as two study rooms. The reconfigured space provides one meeting room that is 22 x 20 feet, one study room that is 12 x 12 feet, one that is 10 feet 6 inches by 12 feet 6 inches, and a storytime room that is 22 feet by 23 feet 6 inches. One result of reconfiguring meeting room space is that restrooms have been enlarged and remodeled.

 Sixteen new public computer stations have also been installed. New furniture has also been purchased for the branch and while shelving was reused, it will have a new look with new end panels and tops. The entire interior was repainted and new flooring installed.

The original skylight, closed over long ago, has been reopened with high-energy skylight panels installed. In addition, all old exterior single pane windows have been replaced with high-energy glass windows. Four new windows were added to the children’s area bringing in more natural light. The entryway is also lighter and quieter.  The old “hissing” sliding door is gone and the entry ceiling was raised. Outside, old landscaping was trimmed or removed and new plantings added and various repairs were made to exterior walls and the roof.

  Lakeview Branch also has new hours.  It will be open Monday – Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. It will be open Friday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. It will be closed every Thursday. These hours are for the entire year and the weekend hours will be applied in summer as well. The only day closed will be Thursday, however all other locations are open that day with both North Branch and Lincoln Branch remaining open until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The phone number for Lakeview Branch is 309-497-2200.

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Intellectual safetynet at crossroads

If the people who use the Peoria Public Library system vote in April to improve it, the library’s $35 million bond referendum will pass, allowing the first major upgrade in a half-century.

Library director Edward Szynaka frames the referendum as a vote on Peoria’s quality of life and its intellectual infrastructure.

Peoria residents are at a “crossroads,” he said. “You say what kind of Peoria you want.”

More than half of Peoria residents have library cards, he said. That’s more people than vote in most elections. The list is current since they must renew the cards every two years.

About 1,600 people use the libraries daily, he said.

But the referendum is a risk, he acknowledged, coming at a time when electricity rates have soared and many people are feeling pinched.

There are two Peorias, he said, the poor and everyone else.

The poor need the library system for access to learning and computers. Their numbers are increasing rapidly.

Peoria School District 150 now lists 68 percent of its students as poor, based on their eligibility for a free or reduced cost lunch. Only a couple of years ago, the figure was 60 percent.

The other Peoria, of suburban lawns and upscale condos, usually can buy what it wants at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Circuit City and the like.

But Peoria can’t claim to be a progressive city without a modern library system open to all, the ultimate intellectual safety net. For that reason alone, the referendum should be approved.

The Peoria City Council, which controls the library budget, could have approved the library bond issue without a referendum, Szynaka said. But council members were fearful of being pilloried for voting for a tax increase.

Instead, they took the easy – some might say cowardly – way out and put the referendum on the ballot for the city elections on April 17.

If it fails, Szynaka said, the library is unlikely to get a second chance.

The $35 million will buy bonds to be paid back over 20 years. They will pay for a new building likely on Pioneer Park, to serve the northern section of Peoria, and fund an expansion of Lakeview Library, Lincoln Library and the main downtown library.

A property owner with a residence worth $100,000, and assessed at one-third of that sum, will pay $49 a year more in taxes if the referendum passes, Szynaka said. It would add 6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to the tax rate.

The library has 82 jobs, and the city council doesn’t want to add any more workers, Roberta Koscielski, supervisor of grants coordination said. The system’s annual budget is about $6.9 million.

The upgrade will allow for more efficient operations, so no extra employees will be hired.

The downtown library, built in 1964 also to serve as a fallout shelter, is solid but the interior should be reorganized for greater efficiency, and the entrance moved nearer the parking lot, Koscielski said.

She and Szynaka discussed the library expansion in the downtown library’s third-floor board room. Its bookshelves are filled with ancient, crumbling volumes that were part of the library’s original collection: 19th century histories of England and Ireland, and the complete works of Voltaire, for example.

These antique books are not part of the library’s offerings, and the board wants to sell them, Szynaka said. He has no idea of their value, and whether they are rare or just old, but the collection will be evaluated, he said.

Another source of revenue for the library, philanthropy, has been ruled out for the expansion, he said, to avoid competing with other efforts including the riverfront museum.

But if the referendum passes, he said, the library would welcome charity, such as naming rooms after donors.

The library referendum campaign website offers complete details on the expansion plans.

--Elaine Hopkins