Kankakee Public Library director outlines services and outreach after downsizing to three floors
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Summary
Director Allison Beasley told the committee Aug. 4 that the library consolidated from four floors to three, retained core services, expanded outreach to senior and community sites, and runs long‑standing youth and adult programs including a nearly 20‑year state technology grant.
Allison Beasley, director of the Kankakee Public Library, told the Kankakee City Council Community Development Committee on Aug. 4, 2025, that the library consolidated from four floors to three in 2024 but has continued and expanded community programs and outreach.
Beasley said the change reduced operating costs while keeping circulation, youth, teen and adult services available and said the library is active in downtown events and outreach to senior residences and community organizations. "We also have a library of things, which is a collection of not books, but objects," Beasley said, citing items such as musical instruments and telescopes that patrons may check out.
The library’s first floor holds circulation, periodicals and meeting rooms and the outreach coordinator. Beasley said the outreach coordinator, Latrina Green, visits River Station Senior Residences, Citadel Care Center, High Point Senior Residences, Riverwood Apartments, Prime Healthcare, Westwood, Heritage Village and Lodge, and attends school and back‑to‑school events to register residents for library cards. She said youth and teen services, including a weekly story time called Cubbies for ages birth through 5, are on the second floor; adult services, public computers and a Spanish adult collection are on the third floor.
Beasley described program partnerships and services: a nearly 20‑year track record of the Project Next Generation state grant to connect youth with technology; a summer reading program and teen robotics; Kanopy streaming access for cardholders; a museum passes program (Museum Adventure Pass / Explore More Illinois); Prairie State Legal Services lawyer‑in‑the‑library sessions, including Spanish language assistance; multiple on‑duty notaries; and a Hispanic outreach coordinator, Daisy Pisano, recently added.
Beasley also described the library’s role in downtown cultural programming through the Kankakee Events Partnership — a collaboration of the library, the city of Kankakee and Downtown Kankakee (KDC) — that helps run events such as the Merchant Street Music Fest and other summer series. She said the library continues to place programs in the parking lot and at community events when space is limited.
The presentation was made at the request of Alderman Dave Baron. Committee members asked no substantive follow‑up questions during the public presentation, and the committee moved on to other agenda items.
