Arlington Heights Memorial Library Discusses Possibility of Opening Second Branch

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Officials at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library are still considering opening a branch in the northern part of the village, although no plan has been decided on yet.

Executive Director Jason Kuhl told The Daily Herald a committee is discussing the possibility of a branch. Placeholder amounts for the costs of a new branch will also be added in the 2017 budget, which will be made public and approved next month.

"We're still just kind of thinking through the feasibility in terms of budget and the overall strategic direction," Kuhl told The Daily Herald.

The library hired the firm Product Architecture + Design to conduct a study of how much it'd cost to open a new branch. This is the same firm that designed the 2012 renovation of the library.

There are a few specific spaces in Arlington Heights that the library is looking at to consider opening a second branch at, Kuhl told The Daily Herald. He didn't give specifics, but said the library isn't looking to build anything. Instead, the library would rent space a minimum of 5,700 square feet and located in an existing office building or shopping center.

"If we were to do something it would be a place to offer additional services we don't offer (at the main library)," Kuhl told The Daily Herald.

Kuhl said the library would be more gathering, more interactivity, and more experimental, rather then just be about books.

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