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Community Corner

Mobile Library Axed in Budget Cuts

The mobile library service will make its last run this year.

It’s official. mobile library will take its last ride this year. The library board approved a budget at last Tuesday’s meeting that cuts the service. The 36-foot bus will no longer offer books, CDs and DVDs to senior citizens, pre-school students and residents in areas who don't have a library nearby.

Some patrons said the discontinuance of the service was a loss for the community.

Therese Kropke, of Des Plaines, teaches preschool students at Children’s Choice at Holy Family Hospital. She said the mobile library was how they get a lot of their new books.

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“The kids love the mobile library,” Kropke said. “As a teacher, I know all of the children will be impacted. It was a great resource for the community.”

Earlier:

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For more than 10 years, the mobile library made approximately 33 different stops over the course of a two-week schedule, said Heather Imhoff, head of public information services. The mobile library stops at senior living communities, schools, and areas without a library nearby, such as Rosemont, which does not have a library, she said.

Patrons can borrow materials from a collection of more than 13,000 books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and audio books, the Daily Herald reported. Last year the mobile library's circulation was 48,333, according to the report.

In the absence of the mobile library, library staff have discussed expanding homebound delivery services, adding deposit collections, small collections of materials maintained at outside facilities such as retirement communities, and implementing a marketing campaign to inform patrons how to access services, TribLocal reported.

Ashwin Gandhi, of Des Plaines, said he was unaware that the mobile library, which he said stops near his home twice a month, was being cut. He said his four-year-old daughter enjoys the mobile library’s books and other materials.

“My daughter would get books and DVDs from the mobile library,” said Gandhi. “It would allow her to experience the library without conflicting with my schedule.”

The mobile library costs approximately $133,000 annually to operate, about 2 percent of the library’s budget, Imhoff said. Three part-time positions to operate the mobile library will be eliminated as part of the cutback.

Some board members recommended the cut in May when officials reported it cost $5,600 to rebuild the mobile library’s transmission, TribLocal reported. A new engine cost an estimated $30,000 more than the value of
the vehicle itself, according to the report.

George Magerl, library board president, said it was a hard decision to make.

“We’re not happy about it, but considering everything, it is the wisest choice,” Magerl said. “It’s too expensive to replace it."

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