Young adults in Glen Ellyn aren’t visiting the local public library as frequently as library leaders say they’d like to see, so the library is taking their programs to twentysomethings where they might already be – at local bars.
Beginning next month, Glen Ellyn Public Library is reaching out to adults in their 20s and 30s – especially those who are unmarried and want to mingle or young parents who may need a night out – by hosting programs at bars and restaurants.
“These programs are a great way to attract younger adult visitors to (the library) who might be more interested in attending a book group at a bar, rather than in the library itself,” said Marketing Coordinator Heidi Gustad, who is in her 20s.
A new book group – dubbed “Books on Tap” – will have its first discussion, led by a librarian, at the Tap House Grill at 8 p.m. Feb. 16, where Suzanne Collins’ well-known “The Hunger Games” will be discussed. A trivia night at a sports bar in downtown Glen Ellyn is also on the schedule for February.
“It gives them the opportunity participate in the book discussion group and have some fun with their girlfriends all at the same time,” said Library Director Dawn Bussey.
Young adults can sometimes be disenchanted with libraries, said Bussey, by associating the library as a place for little kids. The targeted programs aim to remind young adults that, like them, the services at the library have followed 21st century trends, offering music and ebook downloads as well as public Wi-Fi.
“For so long your traditional public library service was to children and to adults and there was sort of a gap in the middle,” Bussey said.
A “Grown-up Cooking Class” is the third item on the young adult programming agenda for February, “where patrons are encouraged to step up their cooking skills and embrace their inner grown-up,” according a release from the library.
The February events are just the first few programs from the library that attempt to broaden its reach to the Glen Ellyn community, Bussey said.
“It’s important that we continue to be relevant,” Bussey said. “These folks are a portion of the community no different than the children or the senior citizens.”
If the Glen Ellyn library wants to increase the participation of younger readers and turn them into patrons, then they need to regain control of the library. The library is overrun by homeless people most days of the week. Yesterday (Sunday, 1/22) alone, there was a line at 1PM of homeless waiting to get in before the PADS shelters open. We’ve actually seen church vans drive in from other towns to drop the homeless from their town off at the library. These people (tragic as their plight may be) take over the second floor. They lay their bags and personal belongings out so no one else will take the tables they will then control the rest of the entire day and they take over the bathrooms. Washing themselves in the sinks, etc. When they need a break, they stand in the doorway and smoke while families have to walk through their path to get into the front doors.
The people that they are trying to attract are typically young parents who moved to GE to raise young children. They can’t use the library most days without extremely tight parental supervision. The days of parent letting their kids explore the wonders of the library and of books are over. Parents in town don’t want their families going there without supervision. Most visits to the library have to be in-and-out because what this investment has become… which is basically a homeless shelter.