News

Winter Reading Club for adults, teens, and children has begun! This year, our theme is Books Like Us, which is all about celebrating the transformative power of seeing yourself and others reflected in a story. Visit our Winter Reading Club page for everything you need to know about Winter Reading Club, including signup, paper logs, and some great reading lists and other resources. We will have a monthly prize drawing for all ages for prizes purchased from local businesses.

Due to the increase in community spread of COVID-19 and the anticipated implementation of Tier 2 mitigations in Region 9, the Lake Bluff Public Library will be suspending in-building services and reverting to a contactless curbside only model effective Monday, November 16. Adjustments to Library services include the following:

Thanks to a generous donation from the Friends of the Lake Bluff Library, we are now able to offer you access to Tutor.com! Tutor.com provides on-demand tutoring, homework help, test preparation and writing assistance for students in grades K-Adult in over 60 subjects. Live online help is available from 2:00pm and 9:00pm, 7 days a week. No appointment required.

The Library temporarily suspended all in-building services on October 27, 2020 upon learning of a case of COVID-19 on staff. The staff member who tested positive learned of their exposure to the virus as they began presenting symptoms on Tuesday. The staff member had some shifts scheduled following their exposure to the virus but was not in the Library building after the onset of symptoms. They were not working directly with patrons during their shift at the Library and wore a mask and gloves for the entirety of their shift. They are now resting and recovering at home. No additional staff members have tested positive or are reporting COVID-like symptoms.

Q: I was in the library recently. Should I be worried about a potential exposure?
A: The affected employee was not working directly with patrons during their shift at the Library. The affected employee also wore a mask and gloves for the entirety of their shift. This does not meet the criteria for close contact as defined by the CDC. The Library has not been contacted by the Lake County Department of Health as part of contact tracing efforts. Should the Library be contacted, we will make every effort to provide that information to patrons.

Q: What will the Library be doing to make sure the building is safe?
A: We have hired a company to perform a COVID-specific deep clean of the Library building.

On Tuesday, October 27, the Lake Bluff Public Library became aware of a presumed positive COVID case on staff. Out of an abundance of caution, the Library is temporarily closing the building, effective immediately; all in-building services including Curbside Pickup are suspended effective immediately. Service changes are as follows:

Starting October 13, the pickup point for Curbside Pickup will be inside the Library lobby. Items will be placed on a cart next to the interior Library doors. The building will NOT be open at this time. In order to maintain social distancing, we are asking patrons leave the Library building once they have picked up their Curbside orders.

Apart from this change, all other Curbside Pickup procedures remain in effect. Visit our Curbside Pickup page for more information about this service.

Reopening: Stage 3

As of September 21, the Library will enter Stage 3 of our reopening plan. As always, we are profoundly grateful for your patience and support as we work to safely re-establish library services during these challenging times. While more library services will be available in Stage 3, the full scope of services will continue to be limited. Please read on for more information about our services.

We are pleased to announce that the exterior book drops have officially reopened for returns. We have a drive-up book drop on Oak Avenue and a walkup return bin right by the Library's main entrance. Return bins will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and cooperation as we worked back up to reopening the book drops!

We are delighted to be opening our doors once again, and are profoundly grateful for the patience of the community during these challenging times. Library staff have worked hard throughout the closure of our building to continue providing services and collections virtually. We will begin the process of reopening the building on July 20. Not all services will be immediately available; they will be expanded over time. We will continue to offer virtual programming and curbside pickup in order to maximize access to the Library within the limits of social distancing. Please read on for more information about our services.