The Peoria Public Library recently completed their renovation of the main branch on Monroe in downtown Peoria. The interior has been thoroughly modernized, so it no longer has that 1950s feel to it. But modern design is plain and unadorned, giving the library a rather sterile, utilitarian look. The new design has an open floor plan, which takes fewer librarians to oversee. That allowed some of the staff to be moved to the new north branch.

The entrance to the main branch has been moved closer to the parking lot, and the area of the old entrance has been turned into a cafe of sorts — although food and drink selections are limited to a couple of vending machines.

The book checkout area is now completely automated. Librarians don’t check you out anymore — you have to do it yourself. However, it’s a simple process. You scan your library card and put the books you wish to check out on a black pad, and the computer automatically puts the book on your account. You can choose to print out a slip reminding you of the due date.

My favorite part of the library is the local history and genealogy section. This has been moved from the main floor to the first basement — an area that until the renovation was not open to the public. Initially, the local history section had different hours than the rest of the library, but that has been changed. The section is now open the same hours as the rest of the main branch. After doing a quick survey of the materials, it appears that all of the local historical information is still there, but better organized. However, I did not see any “new” materials on the shelves — that is, materials that used to be kept in the back room accessible only to library staff, but now made available directly to the public. The microfilm has gotten a lot of new boxes and labels. The old, hand-crank microfilm readers have been replaced by more modern readers that all have printing capability (10 cents a page). There is even one microfilm reader (available to library staff only) that can scan a microfilm image to digital format. Best of all, the local history staff is still there, so patrons still get the benefit of their institutional memory.

The renovated library gives patrons plenty of space to sit and read, and lots of table space for oversize or multiple books for those doing research. And, of course, there are lots of computers available for online research as well. The library subscribes to many databases, giving patrons access to many materials it would be too expensive to access individually.

Overall, the updates have made the library more modern and functionally efficient.икони на светци