Question of the Day: Can’t the Literacy DuPage representative set up their display somewhere else?

The full question was: Can’t the Literacy DuPage representative set up their display and talk to potential volunteers somewhere that is not right by the computers?

The short answer is no. There just isn't anywhere else that allows for connecting with adults as they enter and exit the library. With no space on the ground level for a person with a display, the choices become the entry areas on the upper or lower level. Since Youth Services is housed on the lower level, the upper level entry area is the choice. Now look at the space: stairs, hallway area, opening onto the main floor. And where is the first logical place for a display as you enter? The table across from the Check Out Desk stands in the space available, right behind the public computers. It’s Literacy Awareness Month. Our library was the first partner outside of Dupage County for Literacy DuPage. No other agency in Will County fills this need. Literacy DuPage relies on volunteers to provide tutoring for adult literacy learners. Allowing a volunteer to recruit other volunteers at our library to help fulfill literacy needs in our community makes sense.

This is another example of the current building’s deficiencies as a functional library.

On the positive side - this display and volunteer recruited more than a dozen new volunteers for Literacy DuPage.