DeKalb Public Library outlines 2024 gains, plans courtyard accessibility and sensory space

DeKalb Public Library Executive Director Emily Faulkner presented the library’s 2024 annual report at the Feb. 24 DeKalb City Council meeting, highlighting record program attendance, new materials and plans for capital work in 2025.

Faulkner told the council the library belongs to a consortium of about 145 libraries that provides access to more than 2 million items; within the local collection staff have relabeled children’s materials and added STEM and sensory kits. Program attendance among young children grew enough that staff added a Monday story time and moved a toddler music program into a larger room to accommodate 60–70 participants weekly.

For teens and adults the library reported stronger use of study space, increased volunteer and advisory participation, and popular new adult offerings including forest walks, lectures and classes on digitizing old media. Faulkner said the library became a polling place for three precincts in 2024, expanded voter registration work and trained additional staff as notaries to meet demand.

Faulkner described planned capital work for 2025, led by a need to address deterioration in the Hays Building courtyard and patio and to update windows, security cameras and interior finishes. She said the courtyard has never been accessible to people with mobility impairments; the library is preparing requests for proposals from architects, noting the Hays Building’s historic status will shape design requirements.

Faulkner also announced Hillman Pediatric Therapy’s in‑kind help and funding to establish a sensory space in the children’s area and said the Lehi Family Foundation and other donors have funded DeKalb County’s participation in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library; the state of Illinois will cover half the shipping costs and local donors will cover the remainder so books can be mailed from birth to age five.

Aldermen asked whether existing budget surpluses would fund the patio project. Faulkner said the library has increased reserves and aims for 25% of its operating budget in reserves but that the patio and roof work could exceed currently available funds; some reserves are already earmarked for capital projects. Alderman Larson and others thanked staff for library programming and community partnerships.

Faulkner concluded by thanking library staff, the board and the council for support and said staff will return with design proposals and requests for bids as work progresses.