The Niles District Library Board approved the 2019-2029 Vision Plan at its June meeting. The plan’s first focus area outlines how we will leverage the community’s investment in a large, beautiful library building.

One of our priorities as a staff is to maintain library building’s excellent condition inside and out.

Last August, the citizens of Niles approved a one-fourth mil tax levy to fund major improvements. This millage provides about $132,000 annually for five years. We have already used these funds to replace the roof and make landscaping improvements. 

We want the library to be a place where people gather to be with old friends and meet new ones; where people can connect with governmental and nonprofit services; and where people learn new information and skills that allow them to achieve their dreams and aspirations. 

We want it to be a source of pride in our community.  We want the library to be seen as an invaluable asset to our community, even those who don’t often use the library’s traditional services.  We do this by making the library’s space available for a wide variety of community activities such as the Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce Annual Holiday Eye-Opener, Niles Community Schools’ summer lunch program Meet-Up and Eat-up, performances of the Niles Area Community Orchestra and the annual arrival of Santa Claus on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. 

By 2021, we plan to have made the necessary modifications to our east-end bathrooms so they meet all Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility requirements. 

By 2022, we expect the rotunda to have new carpet and a built-in sound system and public address system. We’ll also be installing a glass wall to separate the rotunda from the rest of the building so this space can more easily be used after hours.

Over the coming weeks, this column will be dive deeper into the vision plan’s focus areas, sharing our plans for living our values, fulfilling our mission and building a community of lifelong learners who want to make their lifelong home.

Nancy Studebaker is the executive director at the Niles District Library. She can be reached by email at director@nileslibrary.net.