Dusting off their old books for some new looks- the 95th Street Library has nearly completed a yearlong renovation.
“We just simply needed to clean up our space. The building was opened in 2003. We’ve had over six million people come in here. The community loves us and they wore the furniture out, they wore the carpeting out,” said Karen Dunford, manager of the 95th Street Library.
New furniture, technology spaces, and more power outlets were some key additions to the building. And a huge improvement was with seating.
“We’re really a community center so we needed to think about that,” said Dunford. “Think about pulling in more seating and believe it or not we have 64 percent more seating now than what we had prior to the renovation.”
The $2.7 million project added even more enhancements to the community-loved spot.
“We have those really fun feature walls that kids can sit in and enjoy,” said Children’s Supervisor at 95th Street Library Ellen Conlin. “We have a great new gaming center that’s still in the works in the teen area. We have great benches, computer spaces, just a lot of space for people to check out what’s going on at the library.”
The first floor is now dedicated to the children and teen spaces, which encourage group work and collaboration.
“What we really wanted to do more than was carve out a special spot for the teens because we’re located next to Neuqua Valley High School and they invade us after school hours which we’re really happy for,” added Dunford. “But they need their own space and we created it and they love it and they’re going there so it’s a real big success.”
The upper level is now a quieter study space for visitors, where multimedia rooms and silent study areas are also available.
Providing the perfect nook for every book.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
