Readers in Buffalo Grove and Wheeling witnessed an eerie sight on April 2: a library without books.
The Indian Trails Public Library, 355 Schoenbeck Road, Wheeling, began a year-long, $14.4 million renovation and expansion project by inviting the public back inside for a last look around the 35-year-old building.
Knowing that many of the walls will soon be coming down, librarians invited visitors to write memories and draw pictures on them.
The result was walls filled with drawings and personal messages about the importance of the library to its patrons.
“People having really strong emotional connections to the library,” spokeswoman Susan Dennison said. “It’s a little hard and a little emotional for them, but libraries have changed.”
For the next year, the library will move almost half its total collection to 70 W. Dundee Road in Buffalo Grove.