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District Expands Budget
>> Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Cook Memorial Public Library District Board members agreed to increase the library expansion budget to $14 million.
"The district is on sound financial footing to complete both projects," said Board President Aaron Lawlor. "Providing additional funds on the front end gives us the opportunity to build the best possible libraries."
With the increased budget, preliminary plans indicate that the Cook Memorial Public Library District will be able to offer expanded services at both facilities.
At the Cook Park Library, plans include bringing the Youth Services Department to street-level, sun-filled space and developing a quiet reading rooms and community meeting space. The plans include doubling public seating and increasing library materials from 250,000 to 400,000 volumes. In addition, small group study rooms and a large meeting room will be open to the public.
With the expanded budget, the new library on Aspen Drive will feature a 20,000 square foot new building. The new library will hold 120,000 volumes of materials, 80 public seats, small conference rooms, and a meeting room for public use.
“We want to give our community the best possible library facilities. We have the resources to expand the budget and bring even better library facilities to the district.” said Library Director Dan Armstrong.
The project budget can be expanded without asking taxpayers for a referendum or issuing additional debt certificates. The district finished the 2007 fiscal year with $2.2 million in special reserves and expects to finish the 2008 fiscal year with an additional $910,000 surplus. Together, the surpluses will create a reserve of more than $3 million. These funds, combines with the $12 million issued debt certificates, provide a total of $15 million in available funding.
By increasing the budget from $12 million to $14 million, the library will have a $1 million contingency fund while adding 11,200 square feet to the Cook Park Library and building a 20,000 square feet library in Vernon Hills.
