In the past 50 years, Schaumburg has radically changed, moving from a rural community to a hub of commerce in northwest suburbs.
At the time of its incorporation in 1956, there were only 130 residents. But as the village has grown and transformed, so too have its local institutions, including the Schaumburg Township District Public Library.
Once contained inside a small house, it now has locations in three villages, serving over 1 million visitors and circulating over 2 million items a year.
The library celebrated its 50th anniversary Saturday with an event that marked 1960s culture and the world as it was — both locally and globally — when it was established. The event was meant to honor its history, Executive Director Stephanie Sarnoff said.
The exact date of the library’s foundation largely depends on perspective, as the location jumped around multiple times in the first few years. According to Michael Madden, who was executive director for four decades before retiring in 2008, the concept started in 1958 in Hoffman Estates from a sub-group of a local homeowner’s association.
Soon after, library supporters went to the community to raise what now seems like a paltry amount, $550, to start a library. Supporters ditched the original plan to house the library in the basement of a Hoffman Estates home, instead approaching School District 51 to open up in Hoffman School in 1961l. The agreement was for it to be a temporary solution until the library found a permanent spot.
After a successful 1962 referendum, library supporters had the funds to move out of the Hoffman Estates School, finding another temporary home in a house near Schaumburg and Roselle Roads. The home was renovated and opened as a library in 1963.
“It was a very small building,” Madden recalled. “It was only two-floors, 4,400 square-feet. In fact, only one of the floors was even finished. This was before Woodfield, there were no restaurants. To me, it was out in the country.
“It was actually find of fun,” he continued. “It was very small, and it was just me and three employees, so you pretty much had to do everything.”
The central library in Schaumburg was opened in 1965 and, due to the steady and rapid growth in the area, it was expanded or renovated 10 times before it was replaced with the current main branch in 1998. The Hoffman Estates branch was opened in 1976 and was replaced with a new building in 2002, and the Hanover Park location opened in 1993 and was replaced in 2006.
There are still some details that are a little murky, said Janet Rozek, the local history expert at the library. She is hoping residents will provide additional information concerning the early days, especially photographs of the older buildings. Library officials are still searching for early committee members, as well as the former owner of the house they once called home.
“Over the years, I think most of the people, we have just lost touch with them,” she said.
