The Naperville Public Library (N.P.L.) serves a population of approximately 147,841 people in affluent west suburban Naperville, Illinois with three full-service libraries: the 63,300-square-foot new Nichols Library, the 32,000-square-foot Naper Boulevard Library, and the 73,000-square-foot 95th Street Library. By 2010, circulation had reached 5,000,000 items. It has consistently garnered five-star ratings from Library Journal.
In 2017, Keith Curry Lance noted that there were just thirteen libraries that had received five-star ratings for ten years in a row from 2009 to 2017 with data collected from 2006 to 2015, one of which was the N.P.L. In 2017, when Library Journal invited Executive Director Julie Rothenfluh to comment on the fact the Naperville Public Library was one of those thirteen libraries. She replied, “When people ask me about being a five-Star library, I tell them it’s a two-sided coin. On one side is our community—they love the library and are heavy library users. They check out materials (physical and digital), come for programs, use computers, and use our space. The other side of the coin is our staff. They consistently provide our community with reasons to come back to the library.
One of the biggest areas of our success is circulation. Over the years, we’ve witnessed the changing trends in librarianship supporting evidence-based collection management and the processes designed to support the ‘give what they want’ philosophy. This direction has been supported by a healthy materials budget, allowing us to purchase multiple copies of popular items and support low-hold ratios that keep materials in users’ hands.
Although the 95th Street Library is much larger than the new Nichols Library and the information technology department runs out of it, the new Nichols Library is the central library and that is where the Board of Trustees meet.[1] [I will be referring to the original Nichols Library alternatively as The Nichols Library, as it is labeled over its front door, and the Old Nichols Library, depending on the context. The Old Nichols Library is a couple of blocks to the northeast from the new one in downtown Naperville, and one block north of the large Barnes & Noble store at Chicago Avenue and Washington Street.] While the Nichols Library is located in DuPage County, both of the other libraries are located in the part of Naperville in Will County.
A number of books focus on or address the history of the Naperville Public Library (N.P.L.). Timelines of North Central College and Naperville History 1831- 1995 by Pierre Lebeau and North Central College & Naperville: A Shared History 1870-1995 by Ann Keating and Pierre Lebeau were both published in 1995.[2] The Naperville Public Libraries: Celebrating One Hundred Years of Community Service a booklet written by Jane Teague was published in 1998.
The Foundation
The eponym of The Nichols Library was James Lawrence Nichols I (1851-1895), a German immigrant from Coburg, a city in Upper Franconia, which is in northeastern Bavaria.[3] He came to the United States of America when he was just six years old. The unfortunate boy was orphaned at the age of eight, after which he became an agricultural worker who moved from farm to farm. The farmers for whom he worked treated him brutally, which is why he moved from farm to farm.[4]
“His mother died. His stepfather abandoned him. He didn’t speak English. He had no hope, just despair. But he had a fighting will. He managed to live through all the degradation,” Dolle Nichols, the widow of James. L. Nichols III (1922-1989) told a Chicago Tribune reporter in 1990.[5]
Determined to better his lot in life, he taught himself English, and by the age of nineteen he secured a certificate to teach others. He completed his education at North-Western College (now North Central College), from which he graduated in 1880, after which he served for one year as principal of Naperville’s public schools. In 1883, Nichols was appointed Principal of the Commercial Department of the College, where he taught for eight years.
He did not simply teach courses on business and economics, he wrote his own textbooks.[6] Nichols found success as an author and publisher of business books, as a result of which in 1891 he founded J. L. Nichols & Company in Naperville. His book The Business Guide, published in 1886, sold over 4,000,000 copies.[7] Other titles included The Household Guide, The Farmer’s Manual, and Safe Citizenship.[8]
James L. Nichols I married, had three children, and built a mansion in Naperville.[9] Unfortunately his early hardships had left him in frail health and he died in August of 1895, at the age of forty-four. As he lay on his deathbed at a sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, he dictated his autobiography and will.[10] One of his bequests was $10,000 for the City of Naperville to build a library. Nichols wanted to make certain no child in Naperville would lack books to read as had been his fate. In order to benefit from his largesse, the city had to agree to maintain the library, to supply it with materials, and provide a staff of librarians.[11] With his money, the City of Naperville purchased land, hired the architect, built, and furnished the first Nichols Library.
Dr. J. A. Bell was President of the Board of Trustees, which also included the widow of Nichols.[12] On May 7, 1897, the mayor, aldermen, and Library Board began to plan for the construction of The Nichols Library.[13] They selected a parcel of land at the west end of Central Park at 110 South Washington Street.[14] Mifflin Emlen Bell (1847-1904), who had served as Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department and had designed the courthouse in the county seat of Wheaton, Illinois, agreed to design the library, provided he had no competition.[15] He designed many magnificent public buildings, mainly in the Richardsonian Romanesque, Second Empire, and châteauesque styles of architecture. Local real estate developer Alvin Enck (1864-1918) was the builder, and he chose native limestone as the building material.[16]
Figure 1 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: This is The Nichols Library or Old Nichols Library at 110 South Washington Street in downtown Naperville, Illinois, as seen on December 12, 2010.
The cornerstone was laid on October 24, 1897.[17] It bore the metal inscription “693 feet elevation above sea level – U.S. Geological Survey.”[18] The building has blond brick exterior walls with rusticated limestone at the base, corners, entrance, and windows.[19] The entrance bay projects out from the façade and has a segmented archway. There is a steeply pitched gable with large knobs over the front entrance bay.[20] The windows have stone lintels.[21] The west façade had a hipped roof.[22]
The Women’s Club provided The Nichols Library with the first 500 volumes in its collection, to which other residents added another 200 books. The building was completed by September 22, 1898 and the opening ceremonies took place that night with 300 people in attendance.[23] They drank coffee, ate fried cakes, and listened to music played by the Mandolin Club played on the balcony and soloists sing songs such as “That Old Sweetheart of Mine.”[24] That first year, 639 books were checked out that first year.[25] Naperville then had 2,200 residents. By 1900, circulation reached nearly 7,000.[26]
Over the course of The Nichols Library’s first ten years, there were four head librarians: Edna Goss, Hannah Ditzler Asplaugh, Jennie Niederhouser, and Rose Barnard. Rose Barnard, who graduated from North-Western College in 1906, rode to work on horseback in good weather.[27] She earned $35 per month.[28] Ultimately, she resigned because her parents needed her at home, but not before she trained Mary (“Matie”) B. Egermann how to be a book cataloguer.[29]
In 1908, Matie Egermann became the fifth head librarian and would remain at The Nichols Library until 1950. After the U.S.A. entered the First Great World War, she encouraged Naperville residents to donate 1,002 books, over periodicals, eighty-second record albums, and the American Library Association (A.L.A.) War Service Fund for use by servicemen in 1917 and 1918.[30] In the postwar years, she sent veterans’ hospitals scrapbooks, candy and cookies on St. Valentine’s Day, flowers at Easter, and postcards at Christmas.[31] She used the war memorabilia servicemen sent her in turn to create a small history museum.[32] Thousands of people viewed that collection before its five display cases moved to Naperville’s Martin-Mitchell residence in 1939 (the same year that the Second Great World War broke out in Europe).[33]
In the 1920s, the Illinois State Library (I.S.L.) published reports on statistics from libraries throughout the state, including The Nichols Library. By 1921, the Nichols Library served a population of 3,830 people, had 5,518 borrowers, and added 362 volumes.[34] The Nichols Library had a total of 6,466 volumes, and the circulation was 15,554 items.[35] Miss Egermann earned a two-week-long vacation.[36] Miss Ida Dudley left a bequest of $400 for a clock for the Nichols Library.[37]
By 1923, The Nichols Library continued to serve 3,830 people, had 1,824 borrowers, and added 215 volumes.[38] It had a total of 6,802 volumes and a circulation of 16,964 items.[39] The Librarian had an annual salary of $700, while the Janitor had an annual salary of $238.[40] The Nichols Library spent $55.01 on books, $133.20 on periodicals, and $139.80 on binding;[41] $170 on insurance, $123.07 on repairs, $51.30 on furniture, $47.37 on printing, and $1.45 on postage.[42] The income was $2,053.30 and the expenditures totaled $1,986.29.[43]
By 1925, The Nichols Library continued to serve 3,830 people, had 1,948 borrowers, and added 312 volumes.[44] It had a total of 7,418 volumes and a circulation of 20,094 items.[45]
There was a jump in the population of Naperville by 1927, and yet the number of borrowers (or number of times people borrowed things) at The Nichols Library declined, while the size of the collection continued to increase. The Nichols Library then served a population of 4,608 people, had 1,807 borrowers, and added 407 volumes.[46] It had a total of 7,584 volumes and a circulation of 20,094 items.[47]
By 1929, The Nichols Library served a population of 4,850 people, had 1,851 borrowers, and added 309 volumes.[48] It had a collection of 7,893 volumes, and a circulation of 18,051 items.[49]
STATISTICS FROM THE 1920S
| Year | Size of Population | Number of Borrowers | Volumes Added | Total Number of Volumes | Circulation |
| 1921 | 3,830 | 5,518 | 362 | 6,466 | 15,554 |
| 1923 | 3,830 | 1,824 | 215 | 6,802 | 16,964 |
| 1925 | 3,830 | 1,948 | 312 | 7,418 | 20,094 |
| 1927 | 4,608 | 1,807 | 407 | 7,584 | 20,094 |
| 1929 | 4,850 | 1,851 | 309 | 7,893 | 18,051 |
In the 1920s, the Board of Health prohibited the circulation of books to victims of contagious diseases and ordered the destruction of suspicious books.[50] In the aftermath of “a bad year of illness” the 1922-23 Annual Report showed circulation at the Nichols Library had declined for the first time since its establishment.[51] Before I learnt that this was the case, my supposition had been that the number of borrowers had precipitously declined from the high point of 1921 to the low point of 1923 due to competition from radio broadcasts (which were free) and movie theaters (which were cheap) for the free time of people who might have previously spent more time devoted to reading fiction or poetry to entertain themselves.
During the Second Great Depression, circulation increased.[52] During that time period, The Nichols Library also received $255 per year through the State of Illinois two-year book relief fund.[53]
On Sunday, January 28, 1934, an arsonist set the Nichols Library ablaze.[54] He chose the Sabbath because the library was closed, entered through a window, doused drawers and desks with kerosene, and set a fire that damaged the 36,000-entry card catalogue, 9,000-volume collection, furniture, and supplies.[55] The Nichols Library was adequately insured, but the firebug was never caught, and the library remained closed while it underwent repairs until March 12, 1934.[56]
In 1939, the Children’s Room added to the east room. Kroehler Manufacturing Company, the largest furniture manufacturer in Naperville, donated Mickey Mouse-shaped tables, chairs, and a coat rack.
Miss Egermann decorated a Christmas tree every year and hosted a reception with an exhibition of her doll collection. Students came to see the collection, which included dolls that represented a wide variety of ages, sizes, and nationalities. Miss Egermann used the costumes the dolls wore to teach the schoolchildren about the customs of foreign countries. She hosted doll drives and sent hundreds of dolls to children’s homes during the Christmas season.
By 1950, Naperville’s population had grown to 7,023, The Nichols Library had 12,323 volumes and circulation had reached 21,119. By this point, Miriam Fry (née Bubert) (1917-2011) had been Assistant Librarian for several years, and the Naperville Public Library Board of Trustees asked her to become the sixth head librarian. Born in Wheeling, Illinois, she was a 1935 graduate of Arlington Heights High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois and a 1939 graduate of North Central College, who had wed Arthur S. Fry at Grace Evangelical Church in Naperville in 1940, and moved to Detroit where he worked for General Motors until his untimely death in 1945. Miriam moved with their two sons to Naperville. She served as Librarian of The Nichols Library (the equivalent of today’s Executive Director of the Naperville Public Library) from 1950 to 1984.
Her good friend Mrs. Carl (Katherine) Finkbeiner (née Diehl) (1918-2010) offered to help. This arrangement lasted until the 1980s. At first, they did everything – ordered, cataloged and mended books; reference; advice for readers; story times; and checked out books. Mrs. Finkbeiner, another alumna of North Central College, was Assistant Librarian from 1950 to 1987.
James L. Nichols III (1922-1989) served as President of the Library Board of Directors from 1962 to 1983.[57] He retired in 1982 after twenty years with the DuPage County, served as township clerk for twenty-five years, and was a township supervisor.[58] The family continued to live in Naperville, at least as of 1990.[59] Back then, James L. Nichols IV was a foreman at Fry Properties, Inc. and his son, James L. Nichols V, was five years old.[60]
In 1961, an addition was made to the south of the original structure of The Nichols Library. It opened in 1962. Albert R. Martin was the architect. Mrs. Miriam B. Fry, of course, was the Librarian.
Children’s Services and Technical Services moved to the basement in 1975, which was seen as a sign the library organization required more space. Within four years, the full storage capacity of The Nichols Library was all used up and 10,000 books were stored off-site, as were some artworks and records.
In 1984, Mrs. Fry retired and the Naperville Public Library Board appointed Roger Pearson the first Library Director, a position which he held until 1995. He had successively been Assistant Director and Director of Libraries in Corpus Christi, Texas. Beforehand, he had been administrator of the Nicolet Library System,[61] which is headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and provided support services to public libraries in seven counties. [For part of the time he was Library Director for the N.P.L., he was also a lecturer at the graduate school Library and Information Science program at Dominican University (formerly Rosary College) in River Forest, Illinois from 1991 to 1995.] Under his leadership, the Naperville Public Library built the new Nichols Library, vacated the Old Nichols Library, and gained its first branch library with the construction of the Naper Boulevard Library.
The New Nichols Library
Figure 2 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: This is the new Nichols Library, central library of the Naperville Public Library, as seen on December 4, 2010.
The City of Naperville acquired the property at 200 West Jefferson Avenue, and the second Nichols Library opened on March 11, 1986. The Miriam B. Fry Reading Room is a tribute to the lady who headed The Nichols Library as Librarian or Library Director from 1950 until her retirement in 1984. It is one of the busiest library buildings in the United States of America.
The new Nichols Library was a $6,000,000 facility. At 63,300 square feet, it was almost five times the size of the old Nichols Library. The building and its parking lot occupy the block bounded by Jefferson Avenue on the north, Jackson Avenue on the south, Webster Street on the east, and Eagle Street on the west. On opening day, the new library had 143,191 books, C.D.s, audio-visual materials, periodicals, and other items with which to serve Naperville’s population of 67,371 residents.
In 1990, the new Nichols Library had a display on dyslexia with the help of a memorial fund for James L. Nichols III (1922-1989).[62] Late in life he had discovered he was dyslexic.[63] James L. Nichols IV commented, “We decided the best thing in his honor would be a dyslexic program at Nichols Library.”[64]
Through the 1980s, Naperville’s population doubled, and usage of the N.P.L. continued to rise dramatically, and by 1990 circulation reached 943,355 – about 50,000 short of 1,000,000 items through just one facility. Soon after the second Nichols Library opened, the N.P.L. Board began to talk of establishing a “triangle” of full-service libraries, adding one in the southeast of town and one in the southwest.
After Itasca, Illinois–based Williams Architects planned a successful renovation of the Naper Boulevard Library, the firm received a commission to plan the renovation of a 41,500-square-foot area in the Nichols Library that took place in 2015.
Olya Tymciurak, who was formerly Manager of the 95th Street Library, replaced Sue Prindiville as Library Manager of the Nichols Library. Previously, she was Library Manager of the Naper Boulevard Library, so at this point she had managed all three of the libraries. Ms. Tymciurak joined the N.P.L. staff in 1991, having earned her B.A. in East European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which, as I have explained before, is now one of only two schools where one can earn a M.L.S. degree in Illinois (the other being Dominican University) in 1977 and her M.L.I.S. at the University of Toronto in 1979. She previously worked at the University of Arizona Library from September of 1979 to January of 1981, the Tucson Planning Department Library from 1981 to 1983, the Tucson Public Library from 1983 to 1987, the Utah State Library from June of 1987 to June of 1988, and the Salt Lake County Library from June of 1988 to May of 1991.
The new Nichols Library is open from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sundays September through May and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays June through August, from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays. It is down the street from the Apple Store at 120 West Jefferson Avenue and roughly kitty corner from the Lou Malnati’s pizzeria housed in an old firehouse at 131 West Jefferson Avenue. The address of the new Nichols Library is 200 West Jefferson, Naperville, Illinois 60540. The phone number of the N.P.L. is (630) 961-4100, while the extension for general information at the Nichols Library is 6322.
Figure 3 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: The Old Nichols Library housed Truth Lutheran Church, as seen here on December 4, 2010. Earlier this year, Truth Lutheran Church vacated the building.
Meanwhile, in 1996, Truth Lutheran Church acquired the Old Nichols Library from the City of Naperville. Twenty years later, in September of 2016, Truth Lutheran Church, which had a small Sino-American congregation with services in Mandarin Chinese and English, acquired a vacant three-acre site at Mill Street and Bauer Road that Naperville had just annexed on which they could erect a purpose-built church.[65] Earlier this year, the congregation vacated the building.[66] In March of 2017, Dwight Avram acquired the Old Nichols Library from Truth Lutheran Church.[67] If all goes according to plan, he and business partner Jeff Brown will construct a mixed-use building with commercial and retail space on the ground floor and condominiums on the upper floors that will surround the Old Nichols Library and the renovated Old Nichols Library, which has received landmark status, will house a restaurant.[68]
The Naper Boulevard Library
Figure 4 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: This is the Naper Boulevard Library, as seen on September 17, 2018.
On December 29, 1992, the Naper Boulevard Library (N.B.L.) opened in southeast Naperville, Illinois, within the large portion of Naperville in Will County, as the first branch of the Naperville Public Library. It is an example of the Prairie School style of architecture. At first, only the upper floor in the two-story building was open to the public as a library. In its first year, the Naper Boulevard Public Library had acquired 52,113 books, videos, and CDs. The staff answered 36,000 reference questions. Within just three years, the Naper Boulevard Library expanded to the lower level of the building. This is a 32,000 square-foot building, which makes it the smallest of the Naperville Public Library’s three facilities. The $3,000,000 facility was funded through the sale of general obligation bonds and the Naperville Public Library’s building reserve fund.[69]
In 1995, Roger Pearson, the first Library Director of the Naperville Public Library, stepped down. After he departed the Naperville Public Library (and the faculty of Dominican University), he served as Director of the Sonoma County Library, which is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California from 1996 until 2001. As such, he oversaw a central library and twelve branches.[70]
In May of 1996, Donna Dziedzic succeeded him as Library Director. By the time she retired, her title was Executive Director of the Naperville Public Library. She earned an AB from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.[71] Then she earned a Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science (MSLIS) from the University of Illinois, Urbana. Ms. Dziedzic was the principal of the consulting firm Organization Transition Solutions, which aided “associations, small businesses, municipalities, and libraries in organizational and staff development goals.” According to her biography, she also “owned a successful allied health practice and served as vice-president of a human development firm,” whatever that may be.[72] She held leadership positions at the Illinois Library Association (I.L.A.), the A.L.A., the New York Public Library, the New Jersey State Library, the Chicago Public Library, and the DuPage Library System (D.L.S.). She was also the last board president of the D.L.S., as it merged with four other Illinois Regional Library Systems to form the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (R.A.I.L.S.).
Ms. Dziedzic began a term on the Board of Directors of the I.L.A. in 2007, and twice served on the Council of the A.L.A. In 2008, she served as I.L.A. board president, and co-chaired the I.L.A.’s Future of Library Cooperation Initiative. She is a past president of the Association of Specialized and Cooperative Library Agencies (A.S.C.L.A.), which is an A.L.A. division. In l997, she received the A.S.C.L.A.’s Service Award, which is its highest honor. For the A.L.A.’s Office of Accreditation, Ms. Dziedzic served on several committees that review graduate schools of library and information science. In June of 2004, she received the Distinguished Alumni award from the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library & Information Science, and is a past president of the Graduate School of Library & Information Science Alumni Association. Ms. Dziedzic served on the Board of Directors of the Naperville Development Partnership and the Honorary Board of the Naperville Area Humane Society. She is or was also a member of Naperville Rotary, the Naperville League of Women Voters, and the World Future Society. In 2005, she was a guest speaker at “The Round Table on Freedom of Speech and Press” held at Oxford University.
In 1996, the Nichols Library, for lack of space, underwent a major renovation. The administrative offices were relocated from the Nichols Library to the Naper Boulevard Library during this period. As predicted, both libraries, like the geography surrounding them, also began to fill to capacity and struggle with the volume of traffic. These issues led to the foundation of the third library in the system, the 95th Street Library.
In 1998 – the year the Naperville Public Library celebrated the 100th anniversary of its foundation – it served a population of 118,835, circulated almost 2,000,000 items, and housed approximately 450,000 volumes between two facilities. They served almost 1,000,000 visitors in one year (or rather served people 1,000,000 times).
In 2010, Williams Architects oversaw renovations of the Naper Boulevard Library. Four years later, the same firm renovated and remodeled the building.
Since November of 2017, Yan Xu has been Library Manager of the Naper Boulevard Library. She replaced Karen Dunford. [Ms. Dunford became Library Manager of the 95th Street Library.] Ms. Xu has worked at the N.P.L. since April of 2008. The N.B.L. is open from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays year-round (unlike the Nichols Library and the 95th Street Library, which are open from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sundays September through May and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays June through August). It is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
The address of the Naper Boulevard Library is 2035 South Naper Boulevard, Naperville, Illinois 60565. The phone number for the Naperville Public Library is (630) 961-4100 and the extension for general information at the N.B.L. is 2212.
The 95th Street Library
Figure 5 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: This is the main entrance of the 95th Street Library, as seen from Cedar Glade Drive on Monday, September 17, 2018.
Figure 6 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: This is the drive-through book-drop of the 95th Street Library, as seen on Monday, September 17, 2018.
With the new Nichols Library and Naper Boulevard Library coming under strain trying to meet the needs of the growing population of Naperville, Illinois, on January 4, 1996, the Naperville Public Library (N.P.L.) Board of Trustees purchased a three-acre parcel of land at 95th Street and (the appropriately named) Book Road in southwest Naperville to build the second branch library. [Today, the 95th Street Library is nowhere near Book Road, as the Neuqua Valley High School and a strip mall come between the 95th Street Library and Book Road, for reasons that will be explained below.] This is in the large portion of Naperville that lies within Will County.
The Naperville Public Library Board commissioned studies to ensure the largest building possible was constructed within the constraints of the second branch library’s location. On the Naperville Public Library’s behalf, the Naperville City Council negotiated with the Naperville Park District for a 6.5-acre parcel west of the original site. On April 28, 2002, ground was broken. At 73,000 square feet, the 95th Street Library is the largest of the Naperville Public Library’s three facilities. The $15,800,000 structure opened on September 21, 2003, which was one day short of the 105th anniversary of when the Old Nichols Library opened its doors. Remarkably for a public building in Illinois, it opened on time and $100,000 under budget. The N.P.L. emphasizes that it has three full-service libraries. Given the relative size of the Naper Boulevard Library and 95th Street Library compared to the Nicholas Library, it would be fair to say the N.P.L. operates three sister libraries rather than a central library with two branch libraries.
Kathy Cichon reported in a Naperville Sun article published on August 18, 2005 that in mid-December of 2005, Deputy Director Mark West would retire. Susan Strunk, who joined the staff in 1993, would be promoted to succeed him (“Library names new deputy director”). Julie Rothenfluh later became Deputy Director and Marcia Lebeau became Administrative Director (or Director of Administration).
In 2009, while she was Adult Services Supervisor at the Nichols Library, Karen Dunford was named “Librarian of the Year” by the DuPage Library System (D.L.S.), one of nine Illinois regional library systems.[73] Ms. Dunford, who joined the N.P.L. staff in 1988 as a reference librarian, collaborated with Naper Settlement, Naperville Community Television (NCTV), and the Illinois State Library to create the Naperville Heritage Digital Collection for the Illinois Digital Archives. The Naperville Heritage Digital Collection, paid for in part by the City of Naperville’s Special Events & Culture Amenities (S.E.C.A.) grant program, received the highest award from the Illinois State Historical Library.
Normally, the Naperville Public Library’s three facilities are open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Formerly, the libraries opened at noon on Sundays, but due to budget constraints in the economic depression that started in November of 2007, the N.P.L. announced in April of 2010 that effective May 2nd the libraries would open at 1:00 p.m. on Sundays, which would save $200,000.
In February of 2010, the N.PL. announced the Windy City Romance Writers Association had named N.P.L. Adult Services Librarian Karen Toonen the Northern Illinois Librarian of the Year due to her support of the romance genre and would honor her at a dinner in April. In September of 2010, an NPL press release announced that a book by an N.P.L. employee would be reprinted by BearManor Media. Bing Crosby (1903-1977), Bob Hope (1903-2003) and Dorothy Lamour (1914-1996) starred in seven Road films, starting with Road to Singapore (1940) and ending with The Road to Hong Kong (1962), covered in Randall Mielke’s book, Road to Box Office – The Seven Film Comedies of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, 1940-1962.
Today, N.P.L. cardholders can access the library twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Cardholders may locate materials and reserve them online from home via personal computer and renew them via telephone. In fiscal year 2003, nearly 3,000,000 items were checked out of the two facilities the NL then had. It had taken 100 years to reach an annual circulation of 1,000,000. In just 8 more years, circulation reached 2,000,000. A mere 5 years after that, circulation reached 3,000,000. This year, 2010, circulation increased to 5,000,000.
The annual circulation of the N.P.L. for the financial year 2009-2010 was 5,005,480. Naperville has a population base of 144,560, so the circulation per capita was 34.63. The total number of visitors to the three libraries was 1,875,460 in the financial year 2009-2010 (though some people visit multiple times throughout the year, so that really means an unknown number of people visited the three libraries 1,875,460 times). The N.P.L. uses the Millennium computerized catalog, and formerly used Dynix.
In April of 2010, the N.P.L. was ranked #1 for cities with populations between 100,000 and 249,999 in the national scorecard issued by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings, which is based on data published by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (I.M.L.S.), for an unprecedented 10th year in a row. Not quite 8,000 libraries across the U.S. were ranked. Only ten American libraries have made it into all ten editions, and Naperville is the only one to earn a rank of #1 in all ten editions. In a press release, NPL Executive Director Donna Dziedzic exclaimed, “This is such a singular achievement!”
“We are the only library that has been number 1 in its population category for each year the ratings have been published,” Ms. Dziedzic said. “The data used for this edition of the index is from 2007, the year before the Library achieved sufficient efficiencies to begin reducing its tax rate in 2008. Because of the economic downturn, significant reductions in the Library budget began in 2010. It will be interesting to see the long term effect of the reductions on the ranking as well as on our ability to continue providing quality library service to our residents.”
Williams Architects has planned multiple renovations of the 95th Street Library. In 2010, the 95th Street Library underwent renovations in a 3,000-square-foot area. Seven years later, the 95th Street Library underwent renovations in a 3,000-square-foot area from April to mid-November of 2017.
Karen Dunford replaced Olya Tymciurak as the Library Manager of the 95th Street Library. She has worked for the Naperville Public Library for thirty years, having started as a Reference Librarian in 1988. She held that position until 1996. For the next ten years, she served as Adult Services Supervisor at the Nichols Library. She has been Library Manager at the N.S.L. since November of 2013.
The 95th Street Library is open from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sundays (September through May) and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays (June through August). The rest of the week, the schedule is less complex. It is open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays.
The property is south of 95th Street, east of Wheatland Marketplace mall, west of Neuqua Valley High School campus, and north of the Naperville Park District’s Frontier Park, which is home to the enormous Frontier Sports Complex. Wheatland Marketplace is off of Illinois Route 59. It is at the southeast corner of Route 59 and 95th Street.[74]
The 95th Street Library faces Cedar Glade Drive, which lies between the library building and high school buildings. The address of the 95th Street Library is 3015 Cedar Glade Drive, Naperville, Illinois 60564. The phone number for the N.P.L. is (630) 961-4100 and the extension for general information at the N.S.L. is 4912.
Current and Recent Leadership
It is worth noting that on May 31, 2011 Administrative Director Marcia Lebeau retired after thirty-seven years with the NPL, and Uma Sailesh, the former Human Resources and Organizational Development Manager, was appointed the new Administrative Director.
When she started at the N.P.L. in January of 1974 as a circulation clerk, the N.P.L. was housed in the small building on Washington Street and had twenty-five employees. By the time she retired, it has three buildings with a combined 168,000 square feet of space, more than 280 employees, and annually circulated more than 5,000,000 items.
“I will miss Marcia’s dedication to the Library as well as her historic perspectives and her expertise,” said Ms. Dziedzic. “She also has a very generous spirit that made her a delight.”
The Naperville Public Library announced in two press releases dated July 5, 2011 that Donna Dziedzic, Executive Director of the N.P.L., retired effective June 30, 2011 after fifteen years as Executive Director of the N.P.L. and the N.P.L. Board of Trustees had elected new officers.[75] In an earlier press release dated June 21, 2011, the N.P.L. announced the Board of Trustees had named John G. Spears as the new Executive Director of the Naperville Public Library.
Ms. Dziedzic stated, “I know that the Board of Trustees will conduct a thoughtful and successful search for a new Executive Director. Statutorily and in reality, finding a new Director is truly one of the most important activities for any Library Board. I know the Library’s Board will do their utmost to find the best possible new Executive Director. Naperville is an extraordinary community that deserves and demands the best.”
During her fifteen years as Executive Director, Donna Dziedzic presided over tremendous growth of the N.P.L. She opened a new building, the 73,000-square-foot 95th Street Library, which doubled the square footage of the N.P.L.’s building space. Under her direction, a collection of over 800,000 items was created that circulates 5,000,000 times a year. She led an electronic explosion that today allows Naperville residents to download music, videos, and, of course, books, from anywhere in the world.
Nationally, her leadership was recognized by library professional organizations. The N.P.L. also regularly received a 5 Star rating from Library Journal. In 2010, for an unprecedented tenth year in a row, the N.P.L. was named #1 public library in its population category by Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings (H.A.P.L.R. ). Thomas J. Hennen, Jr. bases ratings on a nation-wide survey of 8,000 public libraries using statistics collected by the I.M.L.S. Only ten American libraries have made it into all ten editions, and the N.P.L. is the only one to earn a rank of #1 in all ten editions.
In October of 2009, the Naperville Jaycees awarded her the Distinguished Service Award – Public Employee. She stated in a press release, “I am so proud to receive this award from the highly respected Naperville Jaycees. These awards are not singular – it truly takes a community for a library to be a good one. We are fortunate to have the support of our City Council; a Board who provides direction and brings our story to the community; the best staff in the county; and a community that sees their Library as a valuable asset and a good value.”
In November of that same year, she received an Influential Women in Business (I.W.B.) Award from The Business Ledger in partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners – Chicago Area Chapter. She stated in a press release at the time she received the award, “While I have long maintained that public libraries must be efficient businesses and provide our residents ‘good bang for their taxpayer bucks!,’ it is thrilling to be recognized for this by business owners. It’s wonderful that the business community acknowledges the vital role public libraries play as economic drivers for the community. At the Naperville Public Library, we work to provide excellent library services while carefully shepherding taxpayer dollars.”
In the spring of 2011, in her capacity as President of the Board of the DuPage Library System (D.L.S.), Ms. Dziedzic helped guide the recent consolidation of five Northern and Central Illinois Regional Library Systems into one new organization, a super-system called the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (R.A.I.L.S.). The latter came into existence effective July, 1, 2011, as I have pretty thoroughly documented. One of her last official acts as Board President of DLS was to present Excellence in Investigative Journalism awards to Kane County Chronicle reporter Brenda Schory and me at the DLS Farewell Luncheon on June 20, 2011.
Figure 7 Credit: Sean M. O’Connor Caption: DuPage Library System (D.L.S.) Executive Director Tom Sloan and D.L.S. Board President at the D.L.S. Farewell & Best Wishes Luncheon on June 20, 2011.[76]
In 2009, the National Association for Business Resources (N.A.B.R.) also placed the N.P.L. on its list of Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. Ms. Dziedzic stated, “We are pleased and proud that Naperville Public Library has been selected as one of “Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies. The recognition is awarded to organizations in Chicago that are creating impressive organizational value and business results through organizational policies and best practices in human resources management.”
When she announced her plan in October of 2010 to retire in June of 2011, Ms. Dziedzic said, “This is a positive, personal decision.” She enthused, “working with the Board and staff of the Naperville Public Library has been an exceptional joy in my career.”
“I know that the Board of Trustees will conduct a thoughtful and successful search for a new Executive Director,” she said. “Statutorily and in reality, finding a new Director is truly one of the most important activities for any Library Board. I know the Library’s Board will do their utmost to find the best possible new Executive Director. Naperville is an extraordinary community that deserves and demands the best.”
“Losing a person of Donna’s quality and integrity leaves the Naperville Public Library system is [sic] a great loss. However, we are looking for great things from John Spears,” stated new Library Board President Jerry Feldott.
On June 21, 2011, the Board of Trustees hired John G. Spears, Executive Director of the Joliet Public Library (J.P.L.) to become the new Executive Director of the Naperville Public Library effective July 25, 2011. Trustee John P. Maas, a search committee member, commented “We had a very solid applicant pool for the position; however the Board felt that John’s strategic vision, ability for community outreach, and enthusiasm best positioned NPL for leadership into the future.”
Spears served as the Library Manager of the 95th Street Library from September of 2007 to October of 2009 before he became the Executive Director of the J.P.L. in October of 2009. During his time at the J.P.L., according to the N.P.L., “Spears introduced a collaborative culture and reorganized internal structure for organizational effectiveness.”
The N.P.L. stated, “Spears’ vision on upgrading the Library’s technological infrastructure and creating strategic community and governmental partnerships increased the Library’s visibility in the community. In a time of reduced budgets, Spears successfully worked with the City of Joliet to maintain the Joliet Public Library’s funding. Spears has also assumed leadership roles in the Funding Taskforce of the Future of Illinois Library Cooperation, a group responsible for examining the funding mechanisms and has served on committees in the Library Leadership and Management Association.”
His experience also included spearheading several strategic initiatives at Saint Charles City-County Library District in Missouri and the Saint Louis County Library in Missouri. He was Mid-County Branch manager of the St. Louis County Library from January of 1999 to August of 2001, Business/Public Management Information Resource manager of the St. Charles City-County Library from August of 2001 to October of 2006, and Manager of Community Branches and Adult Programming at the St. Charles City-County Library from October of 2006 to September of 2007.
Spears earned a B.A. in Musicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1995. Three years later, he earned a Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At the time he became Executive Director of the N.P.L., he was also working on a second graduate degree, this time a Master of Science degree in public policy administration from the University of Missouri at Saint Louis.
After just two years and one month in office, Spears stepped down to become Executive Director of the Salt Lake City Public Library.[77]
In August of 2013, Julie Rothenfluh became Executive Director of the Naperville Public Library. Previously, she was Deputy Director from 1997 to 2012. Hitherto she had held assorted positions at the Fresno County Public Library from 1987 to 1991. She earned her Master of Science in Library Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979.
David Della Terza has been the Deputy Director since October of 2017. Previously, he had been Library Manager of the Naper Boulevard Library from December of 2013 to September of 2017. Beforehand, he was Computer Lab Director from December of 2006 to December of 2013. Simultaneously, he developed and managed an Internet-based business, Vote for the Worst, L.L.C. from December of 2003 to December for 2013 that at its peak had 7,700,000 hits per day. Mr. Della Terza was also an adjunct faculty member at the College of DuPage in 2006-07. He earned his B.A. in Communications at Northern Illinois University in 2004 and his Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013.
In 2017, the Naperville Public Library had 1,450,656 visitors (3,622 per day), or rather people visited that many times. They checked out 4,032,221 items. The N.P.L. answered 162,691 references questions. There were 70,692 active cardholders, of whom 6,548 were new cardholders. The 2,742 programs were attended by 119,574 people.
The Naperville Public Library had a 2018 budget of $15,650,000. The largest expenditures were salaries ($8,449,184); programming ($2,500,000); services ($1,056,787); and medical expenses ($984,958).
ENDNOTES
[1] The N.P.L. is one of the many American public library systems that calls its central library the Main Library.
[2] Bernard Pierre Lebeau (1932-2017) was Professor of History from 1966 to 2010 and Ann Durkin Keating is Dr. C. Frederick Toenniges Professor of History at North Central College.
[3] Legally, James Lawrence Nichols would have been a Bavarian in the sense of being born a subject of King Maximilian II of Bavaria (lived 1811-1864, reigned 1848-1864), who ruled the Duchy of Franconia as Duke of Franconia. However, Nichols likely he would ethnically have been a Franconian or a mixture of Bavarian and Franconian. The Franconians belong to a different German tribe than the Bavarians as they descend from a colony of Franks planted west of the rebellious Saxons.
[4] Jane Teague, The Naperville Public Libraries: Celebrating One Hundred Years of Community Service. Naperville, Illinois: City of Naperville (1998), p. 1
[5] Ann Piccininni, “A Family Worth celebrating,” Chicago Tribune, 21 September, 1990 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-21-9003190330-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[6] Teague, p. 1
[7] Ibid
[8] Ann Piccininni, “A Family Worth celebrating,” Chicago Tribune, 21 September, 1990 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-21-9003190330-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[9] Ann Piccininni, “A Family Worth celebrating,” Chicago Tribune, 21 September, 1990 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-21-9003190330-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[10] Teague, p. 1
[11] This is similar to the requirement that steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) and later the Carnegie Corporation of New York had that towns and colleges in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Eire, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and other countries had to make commitments to provide sites for Carnegie libraries and financially support them or he or the trustees of his foundation would not agree to make grants to fund their construction.
[12] Teague, p. 2
[13] Teague, p. 2
[14] Ibid
[15] Ibid
[16] Teague, p. 2
[17] Teague, p. 2
[18] Ibid
[19] Ira J. Bach, A Guide to Chicago’s Historic Suburbs on Wheels & On Foot. Chicago; Athens, Ohio; and London: Swallow Press, Ohio University Press (1981), p. 409
[20] Bach, p. 409
[21] Bach, p. 409
[22] Bach, p. 409
[23] Teague, p. 2
[24] Ibid
[25] Ibid
[26] Ibid
[27] Teague, p. 2
[28] Ibid
[29] Ibid
[30] Ibid
[31] Ibid
[32] Ibid
[33] Ibid
[34] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division – A Continuation of the Illinois Library Extension Commission for January 1, 1919 to December 31, 1921. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company (1922), p. 38
[35] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division – A Continuation of the Illinois Library Extension Commission for January 1, 1919 to December 31, 1921. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company (1922), p. 39
[36] Ibid
[37] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division – A Continuation of the Illinois Library Extension Commission for January 1, 1919 to December 31, 1921. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Journal Company (1922), p. 15
[38] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1922 to December 31, 1923. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1924), pages 38 and 43
[39] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1922 to December 31, 1923. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1924), pages 39 and 43
[40] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1922 to December 31, 1923. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1924), p. 30
[41] Ibid
[42] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1922 to December 31, 1923. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1924), p. 31
[43] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1922 to December 31, 1923. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1924), pages 31 and 43
[44] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1924 to December 31, 1925. Springfield, Illinois (1926), p. 42
[45] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1924 to December 31, 1925. Springfield, Illinois (1926), p. 43
[46] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1926 to December 31, 1927. Springfield, Illinois (1928), p. 44
[47] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1926 to December 31, 1927. Springfield, Illinois (1928), p. 45
[48] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1928 to December 31, 1929. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1930), p. 50
[49] Illinois State Library, Report of the Library Extension Division for January 1, 1928 to December 31, 1929. Danville, Illinois: Illinois Printing Company (1930), p. 51
[50] Teague, p. 2
[51] Ibid
[52] Teague, p. 3
[53] Ibid
[54] Ibid
[55] Ibid
[56] Ibid
[57] Ann Piccininni, “A Family Worth celebrating,” Chicago Tribune, 21 September, 1990 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-21-9003190330-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[58] Ibid
[59] Ibid
[60] Ibid
[61] Today, the Nicolet Federated Library System provides support services to forty-two public libraries in eight counties. It is one of sixteen such state-funded library systems in Wisconsin. They are counterparts to the two Illinois Regional Library Systems: Reaching Across Illinois Library System and the Illinois Heartland Library System.
[62] Ann Piccininni, “A Family Worth celebrating,” Chicago Tribune, 21 September, 1990 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-21-9003190330-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[63] Ibid
[64] Ibid
[65] Marie Wilson, “Naperville Chinese church moving out of downtown,” Daily Herald, 22 September, 2016 (https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20160922/news/160929557/) Accessed 10/12/18
[66] Erin Hegarty, “Property owners propose $21M development for old Nichols Library site,” Naperville Sun, 3 May 2018 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-old-nichols-library-development-proposal-st-0504-story.html) Accessed 08/20/18
[67] Erin Hegarty, “Landmark status granted for Naperville’s old Nichols Library,” Naperville Sun, 20 September, 2017 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-old-nichols-landmark-approved-st-0922-20170920-story.html) Accessed 10/12/18
[68] Erin Hegarty, “Property owners propose $21M development for old Nichols Library site,” Naperville Sun, 3 May 2018 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-old-nichols-library-development-proposal-st-0504-story.html) Accessed 08/20/18
See also Erin Hegarty, “Developer wants to convert old Nichols Library into stores, condos,” Naperville Sun, 10 May, 2017 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-nichols-library-mixed-use-development-st-0512-20170510-story.html) Accessed 10/12/18
See also Marie Wilson, ”Restoration, redevelopment of Naperville’s Nichols Library approved,” Daily Herald, 24 May, 2018 (https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180524/restoration-redevelopment-of-napervilles-nichols-library-approved) Accessed 10/12/18
See also Erin Hegarty, “Landmark status granted for Naperville’s old Nichols Library,” Naperville Sun, 20 September, 2017 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-old-nichols-landmark-approved-st-0922-20170920-story.html) Accessed 10/12/18
See also Erin Hegarty,, “The old Nichols Library in Naperville could be filled with a restaurant,” Naperville Sun, 1 October, 2018 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/naperville-sun/news/ct-nvs-nichols-library-construction-restaurant-st-1003-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[69] Ann Piccininni, “A Family Worth celebrating,” Chicago Tribune, 21 September, 1990 (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1990-09-21-9003190330-story.html) Accessed 10/13/18
[70] After Pearson retired there, he started a new phase of his career in which he would serve as interim administrator of public libraries. In 2001, he served as Interim Director of the Spokane Public Library in Spokane, Washington. The next year, he served as Interim Library Director of the College of Marin in Kentfield, California. On the same temporary basis, he headed the Dixon Public Library in Dixon, California from 2002 to 2003. Next, he served as Interim Director of the Kansas City Public Library in Kansas City, Missouri, from 2004 to 2005. Briefly, he headed the Sonoma County Library in 2005. The next year, he headed the Berkeley Public Library. In 2007, he became Interim Yolo County Librarian. The next year, he headed the Colusa County Library, which is headquartered in Colusa, California.
[71] An Artium Baccalaureatus (A.B.) Degree has the same weight as a B.A. degree, but formerly had more prestige, because it denoted study of the classical arts, but if someone was to get that degree today it would no longer signify that distinction.
[72] According to the South African Government, human development means “the process of enlarging people’s choices so that they can live a long and healthy life, be educated, have access to resources for a decent standard of living, enjoy political, economic, social and cultural freedoms, and have human rights, self-esteem and opportunities for being creative and productive.” Presumably human development firms in the U.S. have a slightly narrower definition.
[73] At least at the time, the DuPage Library System (D.L.S.) presented three awards on an annual basis as a result of nominations from its 132 member libraries. Those member libraries included public, school, academic, and special libraries in 388 facilities in parts of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, and Will Counties. The D.L.S. was one of five Illinois Regional Library Systems that merged in 2011 to form the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (R.A.I.L.S.)
[74] Illinois Route 59 is a north-south highway that runs from Route 173 in Antioch, Illinois in Lake County to the north to I-55 in Shorewood, Illinois in Will County to the south. Illinois Route 59 runs parallel with the Fox River and is about five miles east of the river. This is a major route through the outer-ring western suburbs. Until recently, these were exurbs and when one goes west of Route 59, and even as one approaches it in many places, there is a rural or sylvan aspect to the landscape. It has been astonishing to witness this corner of Naperville fill in so quickly.
[75] The new officers of the NPL Board of Trustees are the aforementioned Jerry Feldott, President; Rick Wills, Vice President; and Sandy Benson, Secretary. Jerry Feldott, who had been Vice President of the Board, succeeded Sun P. Kwok as board president.
[76] Mr. Sloan is now Library Executive Director of Live Oak Public Libraries – a consortium of public libraries that serves three counties in Georgia which is headquartered in Savannah.
[77] The Salt Lake City Public Library operates the Main Library in downtown Salt lake City, Utah, and seven neighborhood branches. He held that position from July of 2013 until January of 2016. Spears stepped down from that position to become Executive Director of the Pikes Peak Library District in Colorado, which had fourteen branches. He held that position for two years and ten months. In June of 2016, he became President of the Library Leadership & Management Association, which is a division of the A.L.A.
In the Garden City 
1 thought on ““An Overview of the Naperville Public Library” by S.M. O’Connor”