Romeoville Library to Close Monday, Reopen Jan. 4

Renovations at the ’s Romeville branch will allow the library to make full use of the entire 48,000-square-foot building.

And starting Monday, staff will begin moving operations — and the branch’s extensive collection — to the previously unoccupied lower level.

The changes mean the branch, at 201 W. Normantown Road, will be temporarily closed from Dec. 19 to Jan. 4, 2012, according to Assistant Director/Romeoville Branch Manager Beverly Krakovec.

“We will be moving all of the collections to the lower level, including our administrative, technical services and computer services offices,” Krakovec said via email, adding renovation is slated to begin upstairs as soon as the move to the lower level is complete.

The library will operate out of the lower level until the brand-new upstairs, including a new entryway, a new circulation desk, children’s department and large meeting rooms, is finished. Originally, completion was scheduled for April 2012, but Krakovec said the remodeled branch may not be finished until May.

“We are hopeful construction will be swifter with the upper floor as it will not require installation of mechanical systems, which was a very time consuming aspect of the lowerlevel work,” she said.

Since construction began last spring, library patrons have been patient with the dust and noise as crews worked to revamp the lower level, Krakovec said.

“Our Romeoville patrons have been both patient and gracious during all aspects of the renovation and we deeply appreciate their understanding and good humor. Having never ‘lived’ in a building undergoing major renovation, I don’t believe any of us were prepared for the level of flexibility staff and patrons eventually adapted to,” she added.

The library’s district’s other two branches are also getting a new look.

Construction is scheduled to begin on a brand-new Crest Hill branch, to be built at the corner of Caton Farm and Weber roads south of Menard’s. have pushed the projected completion date of the project back to spring 2013.

Next spring, renovations on the Lockport branch, 121 E. 8th St., are scheduled to begin.