Catch-22 Keeps Library Expansion Plans on Hold

Cherry Valley (IL) Public Library District
Expansion Planning Update

Link to January 26 Rockford Register-Star report,"Cherry Valley library plans for better days".

Excerpt: On one hand, the economic downturn can be credited for soaring growth in library usage. On the other, it’s the very thing that prevents the district from affording to grow beyond its walls.

Library officials say they will continue to develop a plan for expansion as they wait for a time when the district and taxpayers can afford the cost of growth.

The district wants to double the size of its 13,300-square-foot building, which was constructed in 1989.

“We’re still plotting, slowly but surely. Like anyone else, we’re watching what happens in the economic world,” board President Kristin Olson said. “That’s our biggest hurdle at this point.”

The library staff has had eight planning meetings with David Hagney of Hagney Architects since September and the board of trustees meets with the architect monthly. The library also hosted six meetings with the public to get public input on the expansion. The next step, officials said, is the development of a design for expansion.