General news

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.

We have received some questions about our plans for reopening and we wanted to provide some information about where we are in this process. Please be assured that we are working as quickly as possible with the resources that we have available to us. We understand that the last couple of months have been frustrating for everyone and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to implement library services in a COVID-19 environment. Here are some answers to commonly asked questions:

Right now, we are accepting returns on a limited basis due to the high volume of materials that are currently checked out. Here is what you need to know:

Curbside Pickup is sponsored by the Friends of the Lake Bluff Public Library.

What is Curbside Pickup and how doesit work?
In short: you put items on hold, we’ll contact you to schedule an appointment, and you’ll pick up your items at a designated pickup point outside the Library. More detailed instructions can be found on our Curbside Pickup page.

I have items checked out from before you closed—can I return them?
We are accepting returns on a limited basis. Take a look at our returns announcement for more information.

This isn’t exactly the way we envisioned making this announcement when our Board approved this exciting policy change a few months ago, but effective June 15, the Lake Bluff Public Library will be implementing autorenewal. This means that going forward, the system will automatically renew any eligible items before they become overdue. If an item can’t be renewed—if there’s a hold, if you’ve renewed it 3 times already, or if it’s a special loan like a Trending Title or ILL—the system will send you an alert. We hope that this change will make using the Library even easier and more convenient for you! 

The Lake Bluff Public Library’s physical facilities have been closed to the public since March 13, 2020 in partnership with the Village of Lake Bluff’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While we have laid the groundwork for offering modified in-person service and access to physical materials, the many unknowns in the ongoing situation mean that there is no specific timetable for their implementation. This crisis has posed significant challenges to the Library in terms of providing access to materials, programs, and services, and Library staff members have been working from home to make sure that we are still available and operational as a resource to the community.

Services available to the community include:

This website redesign has been in progress for many years and we are so excited to finally show it to you. Some of the highlights of our new site include: