On the walls surrounding the rows of books and movies lining the shelves of the Lincolnwood Public Library are hundreds of engraved bricks that showcase the deep-rooted connection many of its longtime patrons share with the small building on Pratt and Lincoln avenues.
People could easily walk by without noticing that 500 or so bricks on the interior library walls are inscribed with the names of library patrons’ loved ones. During an eight-year-long brick donation fundraiser headed by the nonprofit group Friends of the Lincolnwood Library, hundreds of families that donated money to the library received a personalized brick to showcase in the library lobby.
The fundraiser ended in 2006, according to Georgia Talaganis, president of Friends of the Library, and 10 years later the library now plans to knock down the brick walls as part of a $5.2 million renovation project starting this spring.
The library board and Friends of the Library are now trying to figure out a solution to keep the memories of the people who supported the library alive, but not everyone agrees on how it they should be preserved.
“We had a lot of (Friends of the Library) members who got pretty upset about losing the bricks,” Talaganis said. “It’s not just about someone’s name on a brick—there are stories there.”
While the library staff acknowledges the bricks will definitely not survive the reconfiguration of the front lobby entrance when it’s redesigned to reduce heating and cooling loss, library board president Kendra Beard said the board was working with the Friends of the Library to come up with an amicable solution.
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“I wouldn’t describe this as a confrontation because all along the whole goal has been to ensure we never walk away from the whole legacy of what the Friends of the Library means to us,” Beard said.
The group started in the 1970s as a fundraising arm for the library, and it has raised thousands of dollars to pay for extra things that fall outside of the library’s regular budget, like artwork, furniture, and assistance with a multi-million dollar parking lot expansion back in 2008.
Options discussed during a private meeting between the two parties on April 12 included the installation of pavers engraved with the names of everyone who made a donation to the brick campaign. The pavers would be permanent fixtures in the front walkway leading to the main entrance, Beard said.
Another option was to engrave glass windows inside the library with the names, Beard said.
The library has reached out to about 200 people who donated bricks during the fundraiser period between 1999 and 2006, to notify them about the bricks being removed. Not everyone could be located, however, Talaganis said.
“There’s an effort being made to notify people because we don’t want them to just walk in one day and see their bricks are gone,” she said.
The library board is expected to vote on a final decision during an April 21 board meeting.
The renovations started this week. By the fall, a modernized library with a coffeehouse-style lounge, will be unveiled, officials said. New areas to read and relax outside and glass study rooms will also be built, along with the installation of a new roof and upgrades to the heating and cooling system.
The redesigned lobby will have more space to showcase bestsellers and other popular materials, and will include seating for patrons (currently, there is none in the front area).
“It’s not about having a larger space, but a space that lets us work with what we have to create more flexibility to serve the community,” Beard said. “The (redesign) is the law to carry our library through the next 20 years.”
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.