[Cu-wireless] Libraries flag space, technology as crucial

[Sascha Meinrath]

Hi all,

I think this offers an extremely good model and is something that might be
worth bringing to the Urbana Free Library Staff.

--Sascha

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Libraries flag space, technology as crucial
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By Matt Baron
Special to the Chicago Tribune

July 16, 2003

If Bob Gorman's vision becomes a reality, then Homewood will soon be one
of the world's most-connected communities.

Business owners and residents alike will have lightning-fast access to the
Internet, whether they're in their kitchen or waiting at the train
station.

"The Internet is the place where information is," said Gorman, a Homewood
Public Library Board member for the last decade. "My philosophy, and the
board has sort of adopted it, is we should provide this information, make
this information readily available to our populace."

Gorman has become the driving force behind launching Homewood Public
Library into the technological forefront, using computers in a way that no
other library has before.

He has cast a vision for the library that is revolutionary in its scope:
to provide wireless Internet access for virtually all residents in the
library district for less than they are paying now. The plan consists of
hooking up an array of antennae on tall structures throughout the town,
such as water towers, and then selling antennae to businesses and
residents so that they can tap into the speedy technology.

"We're taking the philosophy that Internet access should be as pervasive
to the community as water and sewer and that everybody ought to have
Internet access," Gorman said.

The practical applications of such a development could include these
scenarios:

- Residents who now pay some $50 a month for cable access cancel their
accounts and link up with the library connection for a minimal fee.

- A Little League mom snaps a photograph of her son getting a base hit,
uploads the photograph onto the Internet, and it is viewed moments later
by grandparents 1,000 miles away.

- Businesses take notice of downtown Homewood because they would have
Internet-ready spaces waiting for them.

By the end of July, the library expects the first arrays to be placed on a
tower and on the library. Shortly thereafter, the library plans to buy the
first 10 or 20 individual antennae and distribute them to downtown
businesses. Officials hope initial testing will be well under way by the
end of summer. Within two years, Gorman said, most homes could be
connected.

Administrative librarian Cindy Rauch is excited about the possibilities,
in which the library Web site would be the public's gateway to
information.

"Traditional library service is changing. The way people access
information is changing," she said. "We want to have people still look at
us as a provider of information and as a facilitator to get people to
information."

Louise McAulay, executive director of the Suburban Library System,
applauded the Homewood district's efforts to address patrons' desire for
convenience and speed.

"We knew this was coming," McAulay said. "It's extremely important that
libraries do keep up because they have to serve their patrons, and they
often are very savvy."

Flossmoor rebuilding

Flossmoor residents in March 2002 approved two referendum requests: an $8
million proposal to raze the library and build a new one in its place, and
a 20 percent operation rate increase to provide support. For someone with
a $2,000 property tax bill, the hike means an additional $72 annually.

In a period where the term "failed referendum proposal" is nearly
redundant, the self-imposed tax increase is nearly as extraordinary on a
sociological level as what Homewood is striving to do on a technological
level. Yet the support for the library is not an isolated case for
Flossmoor residents.

In recent years they have voted in favor of proposals for the Park
District, as well as the high school, junior high and elementary schools.

"It tells me that this community loves the library, wants to see it grow,
wants to see it be the center of the community," said Maria Sewell Joseph,
president of Friends of Flossmoor Public Library. "We're really committed
to education."

Flossmoor Public Library Board President Jim Himmel said the library had
never been a good fit during its 20-year history there.

It used to be a village hall, and the design and conditions were anything
but inviting. Circumstances over time conspired to make a bad situation
worse.

Staff offices in the basement were decrepit, and in the mid-1990s, the
Americans with Disabilities Act provisions prevented top bookshelves from
being used because they were out of reach for disabled patrons; the
library lost about one-fifth of its shelving space, Himmel said.

With extra space at the new site, the library will be able to display the
work of artists and present musical recitals on Sunday, Joseph said.

"To me, it's very exciting what we'll be able to do," she said. "It will
be a drastic change. We'll finally have a library that is serving the
community."

To ease parking problems, the village bought and demolished two adjoining
houses for a lot that will more than double the previous space.

After a two-week hiatus to move materials, the library has operated out of
a temporary facility since May 28.

Library Director Megan Heligas arrived last August, five months after the
referendum request was approved, and has been at the center of the
transition ever since.

The new three-level library will be 35,000 square feet and include
considerable meeting room space for more children and adult programming.
The exterior will include a Flemish bond brick and copper plating that
will create a "stunning" effect, Heligas said. Occupancy is projected for
late 2004.

Olympia Fields taps into SLS

In 1984, Olympia Fields residents approved a referendum request to form
its own library board. With a population that now stands at around 4,900,
however, the town is not large enough to support a library of its own. As
a result, Olympia Fields contracts with the Park Forest Public Library
District to provide services to its residents.

Perhaps the biggest advantage the relationship provides is the ability to
tap into the Suburban Library System and its resources at libraries in
neighboring communities such as Chicago Heights, Flossmoor and Matteson.
Olympia Fields Library Board member Pat Kelly, who before moving to
Olympia Fields was president of Park Forest from 1991 to 1999, said he
often taps into other libraries' collections to pick up music and books
for art appreciation and humanities classes that he teaches at Moraine
Valley Community College.

"Even if you don't ever go to the Park Forest [Library] building, you've
got so much you can do in this modern age," he said.

Park Forest administrative librarian Marcella Lucas said there has always
been a friendly relationship between the Olympia Fields and Park Forest
Library Boards. At least one board member from each district attends the
other board's meetings to stay in touch on the issues.

The library, which was built in 1958, is in need of extensive renovation
that Lucas estimated at $3 million. A $65,000 Illinois FIRST grant is
being used to improve lighting in fiction and part of the children's area,
she said. The library raised $13,000 during a recent "chair-ity" drive to
bring new chairs to the Ringering Room, named in honor of founding
librarian Leona Ringering.

With a ollection of 178,000 items and a reputation for a solid reference
desk, the library is "basically a research library," said Lucas. "We have
quite a bit of depth in the collection."