What is the revised building expansion project 2025?

It is the plan to build a new library facility in Pingree Grove of approximately 20,000 square feet. This plan is a revision of the one in 2024 that originally called for two new buildings, one in Pingree Grove and one in Hampshire. The referendum on this original plan in November 2024 did not pass.

Why this project?

In recent years, the library has conducted several community surveys. These surveys showed that library users want the following:

• more programs,
• private study rooms,
• large meeting rooms,
• teen areas,
• tween areas,
• kids' areas,
• makerspaces,
• outdoor program spaces,
• more computers,
• more items on the shelves, such as books, DVDs, and games.

Respondents also stated that they want the library to be closer to home and more convenient to get to.

The library board has spent years searching for a single location in the middle of the district on which to build one large library to meet all the needs identified in these surveys. These searches failed to find a suitable location. Taking the feedback from the referendum in November 2024, the library board decided to build one  medium-sized library in Pingree Grove and maintain the current facility in Hampshire.

How are we going to build this new library?

Pingree Grove has donated land to the library district. This property is between the current municipal center and the community garden on Reinking Road.

How will we pay for this building?

The new Pingree Grove facility is estimated to cost $15 million total. The library district will ask the voters to approve issuing 20-year bonds in that amount at the April 1, 2025, election.  The library district will also be pursuing federal and state grants to help pay for the building. The district has money saved in its special capital reserve fund that can be used to offset some of the cost, though the library board wishes to reserve most of this money to pay for a remodeling of the current facility in Hampshire and a future expansion in Burlington.

This is the question that voters will see on the ballot:

Shall bonds of the Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library District, Kane County, Illinois, in the amount of $15,000,000 be issued for the purpose of erecting a new library building located in Pingree Grove, Illinois, and furnishing necessary equipment and acquiring electronic data storage and retrieval facilities in connection therewith?

How much will it cost the individual taxpayer?

Please use this calculator to get a good estimate of what your new library tax bill might be if the referendum passes.

The additional amount of taxes is for the debt service on the bonds. Once the bonds are paid off, that amount of the total tax will disappear.

What's the timeline for the building project?

If the referendum passes in April, the library district will issue the bonds in the summer of 2025 and can begin construction as soon as the fall of 2025. We estimate that it will take a year to complete the construction on the Pingree Grove building. The library's current location at 109 State Street in Hampshire will remain and will be remodeled to gain more public area, since certain staff spaces, administrative and technical services in particular, will move to the new Pingree Grove facility.

What will happen to the building project if this referendum doesn't pass?

If this referendum doesn't pass, the library board will most likely conduct another community survey to find out what our residents want with respect to type and quality of library services for the foreseeable future. The results of this survey would inform the next iteration of the building project.

Who can I contact for more information on the building project and the referendum?

Contact Executive Director Stephen Bero at 847-683-4490 ext. 101 or sbero@ellajohnsonlibrary@org

Please use this form if you have any feedback or questions.