CRESTON — With move-in plans in place, the new Creston-Dement Public Library building at the corner of Main and Cederholm Streets is planned to open March 17, Library Board President Doug Kroupa said March 3.
The library decided to close its current location at 107 S. Main St. from March 2-March 16 as it prepares for packing, moving and organizing. The construction project on the new building broke ground on March 15, 2024.
A referendum passed in June 2022 that allowed the Creston-Dement Public Library District to issue $2.2 million in bonds to build a new library building on the land that was donated years ago for just that purpose. The main reason for the desire for a new building was the library outgrowing its current space at 107 S. Main St.
“It took a lot of hard work above and beyond the normal capacity of a volunteer library board,” Kroupa said. “We worked with a bunch of professionals all the way along the line. We had wants versus needs as we were starting out. We brought in a library consultant to help us to focus on what we really needed to put in versus what we really thought we wanted to put in. And it helped us to focus on a library of this size and structure. We've had a lot of tremendous volunteers. We had people here this past weekend to move in all the library shelves. We had 13-14 people from the community that came in. And we were able to get it moved in very, very quickly and easily, so we have a lot of community support to get this going where we're at.”
The library project had to undergo a redesign due to an unexpected $800,000 funding gap due to not receiving a state grant and higher-than-anticipated building costs. The redesigned plans made the project about a third smaller. The redesign caused about a year-long delay.
The building was made smaller and reconfigured, while retaining its planned amenities with the exception of study rooms. The new design also allows for potential future expansion.
“It's very, very close to our conceptual plan,” Kroupa said. “There's always little things different that we could see to do, but very, very close to what we were thinking about and planned. It's going to serve the community well. In fact, since we started to build the building here, we've seen new housing in the area. Because this is one of the driving functions. We got something that attracts people.”
Kroupa said despite the prices of building materials rising almost 75 percent following the COVID-19 pandemic, the library’s construction was able to be done very close to its original budget.
Library Director Kristi Scherer said the project is stretching funds in every way it can. It was recently donated furniture pieces from another library and got some of its current pieces reupholstered. The Creston-Dement Public Library also has written grants for its children’s area.
“We've strived to try to do the best that we can with the money that we have and with grants and public health and donations and things like that,” Scherer said. “We've caused a lot of excitement in the library community. We’ve received things like 3D printers, sewing machines and a fridge. We'll have more space with the community room. I'm trying to get a hold of the Northern Illinois Food Bank rep for free summer lunch. I'm hoping that comes to fruition for the kids here in town.”
Kroupa said that he’s overwhelmed when he sees the finished building after the amount of work that it took. In recent years, the library’s longtime space saw increased use, which made a renewed push for a new library in the community.
The new building and property will lend itself well to accessibility, multiple events at once, more programs, a community garden, and less impact from trains.
Kroupa said there are no set plans for a grand opening ceremony, but the board wants to pick a day and involve the entire community.
“There's several of us that go to different churches and people are talking in positive respects about what's going on and see what's happening,” Kroupa said. “Now they can see it expanding and growing, and when they get inside, it'll even be more exciting. We’ve seen strong community support.”
Scherer said she’s excited about more space to do programming and having a storm shelter in the building for people in the community. She likened the experience of the new library to Christmas morning, after waiting 20 years since the land was originally donated.
Kroupa called the whole experience of building a new library “very challenging.”
“We made many public presentations to convince people the referendum was a good idea,” Kroupa said. “We let people make comments, both positive and negative, to confirm that this is what we as a town and a community need. It was a lot of work, but we got it done. For me, it's almost an out of body experience walking around in the completed building.”
