Back and better: Library reopens with new addition

The Homewood Public Library reopened its doors to the public last month for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But when patrons walk through the library doors this time, they’ll notice some changes or upgrades.

The new $1.4 million addition includes a 25-station computer lab on the main level — previously it had been downstairs. There are also information technology offices in the computer lab, which will give library patrons the opportunity to ask for help when needed.

“We’ll be able to help the patrons easier,” library Director Deborah Fout said. “If they have a computer issue, rather than having to go get on the elevator or walk down two flights of stairs, they can just walk right there and get the help they need.”

The new computer lab has windows, sunshine and bright light; in comparison, the former computer lab didn’t have any windows and was much smaller. Each computer station also has a scanner — previously, people would sometimes wait in line to use the one scanner that was downstairs.

“We try to stay cutting-edge and offer the public what they need,” Fout said.

Next to the new computer lab are four glassed-in study rooms, each with a table, four chairs, windows and a whiteboard.

Fout believes that people will appreciate using the computer lab to apply for jobs, she said.

“And now, they’re filing for unemployment,” she said. “With the pandemic, there’s probably more of that than other things.”

The expansion also included an updated, wider courtyard. Fout anticipates using the courtyard in the future for outdoor programs, and patrons can sit outside in the courtyard while still using the library’s Wi-Fi.

To follow safety precautions during the pandemic, the study rooms are not yet open to the public, and the computer lab is operating at half-capacity. Only 30 patrons are allowed in the library at a time. The library hours are reduced to 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and patrons are asked to keep library visits to a maximum of one hour.

When there isn’t a pandemic, Fout said the library is typically filled with students. The library staff had to remove most of its comfortable seating — people in the past have often sat down, gotten lost in a book and stayed for hours, she said.

“A lot of them come in right after school and will stay until 9 o’clock at night,” she said. “But since we can’t let but 30 people in here at a time, we’re going to have to try to get them in and out.”

To keep track of how many people are in the building at a time, only the upper entrance to the building will be open to the public. A security guard will use an iPad to manually keep track of how many people are inside the building.

Of all the things that have changed since the pandemic, Fout said she has most missed all of the people coming into the library. The Homewood Public Library is the busiest library in the state for its population size, and in 2019, the library had over 435,000 in-person library visits.

“It’s like half a million people a year in here,” she said. “It’s like a beehive, that’s how I describe it, because it’s people in and out all day long.”

TIME FOR A CHANGE

Despite all of this traffic, the building hasn’t seen a renovation or expansion in over 20 years before now.

“It was something we all wanted and something we really needed,” Fout said.

The Homewood Public Library moved into its current building at 1721 Oxmoor Road in 1986. It was then enlarged in the mid-’90s, expanding the library by about a third of its size and adding the auditorium.

In this expansion, there was planned to be a room with about nine computers in it. But the year was 1997, and technology was constantly evolving. Fout said the library outgrew this space before they even opened it to the public.

The computer lab was moved downstairs, where there was more space, and it had been down there ever since. Fout said this wasn’t convenient to the library patrons, though. With the recent expansion, as the computer lab moved upstairs, the entire library proper was brought to one level.

“It’ll be good to have the whole library on one level,” Fout said in February. “Plus the space down here — there’s no windows in the [former] computer lab at all, and it’s much smaller.”

The lower level still houses the Friends of the Homewood Public Library bookstore (which is closed during the pandemic), and the former computer lab will be used as a meeting or program room. Last year, almost 3,000 meetings were held in the library for things like book clubs and crochet groups. The library also hosted 1,562 programs in 2019 with a total attendance of 84,907.

“We do tons of programs here at the Homewood Library,” Fout said. “So we’ll use it for some of our kids and teen programs.”

While the nation continues to recover from the pandemic, the Homewood Public Library has brought all of its programs online. This has opened the door for new opportunities, though, like connecting with Homewood’s sister city in Illinois.

In the past, Fout said she has received phone calls from concerned library visitors who say the Homewood Public Library’s hours are wrong on its website. These people are mistaken, though, and they’re on the Homewood, Illinois, library’s website. When the pandemic brought all of the library’s programs online, Fout noticed some of the attendees were from Illinois, and the Homewood, Illinois, librarians told Fout the same thing was happening on their end.

Now, the two libraries have joined together to form a Cookies and Comics program for third through sixth graders to discuss graphic novels.

“It’s a way to bridge partnerships from across the United States,” said Judith Wright, the library’s assistant director.

NOT THE NEW NORMAL

Fout doesn’t like to call this time “the new normal.” She said she hopes the library can return back to the “old” normal soon.

“I’ve been here 35 years on Nov. 1, and this is the strangest year I’ve had in my lifetime,” she said.

She’s never in her entire career had to lay anyone off. But in order to allow enough space for social distancing while working, she had to lay off her entire part-time staff back in March. She has since hired many back to help with the curbside service and the library’s reopening.

She said she won’t end the curbside service anytime soon and anticipates continuing the service after the pandemic. People often tell her how much they like the service, she said.

Visit homewoodpubliclibrary.org for more information.