At the community workshop regarding the Lehigh/Ferris TIF District on July 26, 2006, residents and the Village administration expressed strong support for using TIF revenue for a new public library building to be located within the TIF district. It now seems possible that Morton Grove is on its way toward creating a new public library to serve the Village's growing needs, needs that have changed considerably since the last library addition over 25 years ago.

While many issues remain to be worked out, the Library Board and staff are committed to focusing first on the needs of the Village; meeting those needs with services, collections and programs; and then creating a building that will house and support those activities. The purpose of this page is to answer as many questions as possible about the reasons for, and the process of, working toward a new library.

Please use the feedback form at the bottom of the page if you have a question, suggestion or comment. Also, please feel free to stop by the library to talk to me personally at any time.

Ben Schapiro
Executive Director
Morton Grove Public Library

Presentation prepared for the Library Board of Trustees by Library staff
Summary of the July 26 Community Workshop (from the Village's web site)

What is the TIF?

The Village of Morton Grove has established a tax increment financing, or TIF, district, running north-south along Ferris and Lehigh and east along Lincoln as far as the current library. When a TIF is created, the value of the property in the area is established as the "base" amount. Throughout the life of the TIF (usually 23 years) the property taxes paid on this base amount continue to go to the various taxing bodies (the village, the county, school districts, etc.) as they always have. Property taxes on the increased property value above the base amount (the "increment"), rather than going to these other taxing bodies, are instead used by the municipality to make additional investments in the TIF project area. This reinvestment generates additional growth in property value, which results in even more revenue growth for reinvestment.

TIF District Map: This PDF map from the Village's "Lehigh/Ferris Subarea Plan: Final Report" shows the location and boundaries of the TIF district. Note that this map is dated October 2002, and some structures shown no longer exist. In addition, the location shown for the library is the current location, not a proposed future location.

What was the outcome of the TIF community workshop?

After presentations by village officials and representatives of the consulting firms working on the TIF project, workshop attendees divided into small groups to discuss, and then present to the entire group, their "likes" and "concerns" for the types of projects proposed for the TIF district. Among these groups, a new library was the second-most-frequently mentioned "like" (after senior housing). Each participant was then asked to select his or her top three priorities among all the projects discussed. Using weighted voting (1st choice=3 points, 2nd=2 points, 3rd=1 point), "develop a new public library" received 79 points, and the most 1st place votes, with an additional 13 points for "library addition." The next highest vote totals were 74 for "retail/restaurant" and 66 for "pursue senior housing project." For the full workshop report, see the workshop summary on the Village's web site.

How does the TIF affect the Library?

The Library Board's research over the last 10 years clearly indicates that Morton Grove needs a new library. As described below, a new library building would bring a great increase in the types and quality of library services that could be provided to the residents of Morton Grove. One of the goals of the TIF district is to create a new people-friendly retail area, and locating a new library in or adjacent to this area would benefit not just the businesses and the library, but more importantly the residents of Morton Grove by making a variety of businesses, services and the library available in close proximity.

The TIF is not a tax increase. It is simply a different way of distributing a portion of the property tax revenue generated by the TIF district. How much of the TIF-generated revenue is made available for library construction is one of the many questions still to be worked out between the Village and Library boards. However, any potential library construction-related tax increase could be greatly reduced or even eliminated through the use of TIF funds instead of property taxes.

What benefits would a new library building provide?

There are many; here are just a few examples:
• Sufficient parking
• Space to increase the library's collections to meet state standards
• A fully-accessible building (major portions of the current building are inaccessible other than by stairs)
• Expanded programming efforts to better meet the broad range of interests in the library's community: all ages, all types of programming
• Child-safe areas, so Youth Services Department programs don't have to be held in the same areas where children are playing and patrons are looking for books
• Story-time room
• Literacy services and classes
• Expanded liaison with schools, expanded preschool programs, outreach to community groups
• More public computers, providing free high-speed and wireless Internet access
• Computer lab and expanded range of classes and tutorials
• Drive-up window
• Special areas and services for people with disabilities

  All of these, and more, are necessary for the library to achieve its goal of meeting the educational, informational, and recreational needs of the residents of Morton Grove.

  Most of these also require space that the current library building simply does not have. And to the extent that some of these services are currently provided, they are often compromised or difficult to achieve because they have to be squeezed into too-small, inappropriately-designed areas, often shared with other services or purposes.

Why now?

Several factors have come together to make this the best time to finance a new library with minimum impact on Morton Grove taxpayers, primarily because money from the Lehigh-Ferris TIF tax increment can be used to pay for the bonds to cover construction costs of a new library. Bond prices are still low and the market for public construction bonds is very good. The Lehigh-Ferris TIF is still young and will be generating increasing tax-increment revenue for 17 years, corresponding closely to the period over which construction bonds would be paid off. In effect, the TIF can finance all or part of the construction costs.

Why build within the TIF district?

The library's current location at 6140 Lincoln Ave. is isolated from the Village's primary traffic patterns. Research into site-selection for public library buildings clearly shows that the best location for a public library is not in a residential area, such as the current location, but in a central commercial area, near businesses that are open evenings and weekends. Morton Grove Public Library users made over 168,000 visits to the library in 2005, and every one of those visits is a potential customer for nearby businesses, such as a grocery store, restaurant or dry cleaners. Being closer to the Metra station, the traffic on Dempster, and the bike path means more library users, and therefore even more customers for the businesses. A library located in the business part of the village would enable residents to save time and money by making available a number of essential services in one convenient location.

Locating a new library near a retail area benefits village residents, the library, and the businesses. Reusing the current library site misses this opportunity to have the library add to the value of a new downtown. Morton Grove is experiencing population growth for the first time in many years. With the demand for library services also increasing (up 21.5% since 2001), this is the perfect opportunity to make the Library an anchor for a new retail district.

Could a new library be built somewhere else?

Outside of the TIF, there are very few options when it comes to available land of the size needed for a new library. In addition, the possibility of using TIF-generated funds for construction would be lost.

Why not add on to the current building, or rebuild at the current location?

• Because of its age and wood-frame construction, the current building cannot support a third floor.
• There is not enough available land adjacent to the current library to build an addition anywhere near the size that would be needed in order to provide the collection size and quality of service that Morton Grove deserves.
• A completely new building on the current site, using as much of the available land as possible (meaning no "green space") would still be only 2/3 of the minimum size according to state library standards. In addition, the costs to locate, rent and remodel a temporary library location, and to then move the entire collection into that temporary location and then back to a new library, would be substantial.
• None of the above options solves the library's critical parking shortage.

What's wrong with the current library building?

• Completely inadequate parking.
• Half the adult collection is inaccessible to anyone unable to climb stairs. Though the building has an elevator, the second floor in that part of the building is 3' above the mezzanine level where the book collection is located. Building a ramp between the two levels would result in the elimination of an unacceptable amount of shelf space and books -- on the order of 6,000-8,000 books would have to be permanently removed from a collection that is already too small to meet the community's needs.
• The stepped floor in the auditorium makes access difficult for many users, including a significant number of seniors.
• A 1998 space-planning study determined that the library needs to be 50% larger than the current building just to adequately house the existing collection and services (see next question).
• 80% of the building was built 40-50 years ago, when library service was dramatically different than what it is today, and over 20 years before the advent of personal computers, which are critical to both staff operations and patrons' library use.
• When built, the library had just four types of materials: books, magazines, newspapers, and LP records. Here is just a partial list of the types of materials the library now provides:

  CDs	AV kits	Videocassettes
  DVDs	CD-ROMs	CD audiobooks
  Cassette audiobooks	MP3 audiobooks	Large print books
  Book discussion kits	Graphic novels	Board books

• Many of the above types require specialized processing and/or shelving, none of which was envisioned when the library was built.

Why does Morton Grove need a larger library?

Based on standards established by the State of Illinois, the Morton Grove Public Library falls short of even the "growing" level, which is intended for libraries in young, growing cities. In fact, MGPL should be not just at, but beyond the "established" level shown in the charts below, due to the higher levels of library service expected by residents in the Chicago suburban area.

 

Illinois State Library: Book collection standards, public libraries serving a population of 25,000
Illinois State Library: AV collection standards, public libraries serving a population of 25,000

 

The library falls well short of the standard both in terms of number of books and number of audio-visual (AV) materials, such as sound recordings, video recordings, and audiobooks. Yet the library shelves are so full that one item must be permanently removed from the collection for every new item purchased (roughly 12,000 items per year). But because the universe of knowledge is constantly expanding, needed materials on new topics or in new formats inevitably crowd out older materials that have not necessarily outlived their value to library users.

In terms of physical space, the library also comes up short of the state standards, which call for at least a 55,000 square foot library for a community the size of Morton Grove. The current library is only 31,000 square feet, just slightly more than half of the minimum standard. In addition, significant portions of that 31,000 square feet are unusable for public space, and difficult or expensive to use for any purpose, because they were designed 40-50 years ago following now-outdated library building standards and code requirements.

What can you tell me about the new library?

Discussions about a new library have only been underway for a few weeks, and at this point it hasn't proceeded beyond the general discussion stage. There are still many decisions to be made and questions to be answered, including selecting a site, determining what level of TIF funding will be available, and deciding what other uses (such as affordable senior housing) might share a building or parcel of land with the library. These and many other questions must be answered before we can even begin to discuss the building, itself. What we can say, though, is that the Library Board and staff are absolutely committed to providing the residents of Morton Grove with the best library, and library service, possible.

What can I do to help?

• Talk to your friends and neighbors about why you think Morton Grove should have a new library.
• Contact the Mayor and Village Board members and tell them how much you think Morton Grove could benefit from a new library.
• Stay informed about the TIF district in general and the library in particular: watch for newspaper articles, as well as information from the Library and the Village as TIF planning progresses during the months to come.
• Let us hear from you! If you have any ideas or suggestions concerning a new library building, or just want to voice your support, please use the form below to let us know what you think. Although individual responses are not possible, your input is very important to us. (Your e-mail address will not be provided to any other organization or company.)
  Name (optional):
  

  E-mail address:
  

  Comments/Suggestions/Ideas:
  

www.webrary.org/inside/tiflib1.html
First published on the Web: 7/29/2006
Last updated: 8/23/2006