Wilmette cardholders browsing the first floor at 1242 Wilmette Ave. will find a bright room where the DVDs and audiobooks used to be. The Wilmette Public Library opened its New Book Room the week of Monday, June 15, completing what the library called a year-long collection revitalization that reorganized how residents find the most popular titles.

The newly carpeted space on the first floor gathers recent fiction and nonfiction, book club picks, large-type titles, and the library's "Lucky Day" browsable collection into one room with all-new shelving and furnishings. Lucky Day titles let cardholders borrow up to four books at a time for 14 days with no renewals. Every Lucky Day title is also available in the standard collection for three-week checkout with holds and renewals.

DVDs, audiobooks, and CDs moved to the lower level directly below the New Book Room, also refreshed with paint and carpet. The fireplace area near the Adult Services Desk now houses the Library of Things, recently added audiobooks and DVDs, and the videogame collection.

The library wrote in a June 12 post that the project's goal was to improve access to the collections patrons use most, with the majority of work completed by Friday, June 19.

Friday evening hours on the table

Separately, Library Director Anthony Auston recommended to the Board of Library Trustees on Monday, June 16, that the library close at 6 p.m. on Fridays starting this fall, three hours earlier than the current 9 p.m. closing.

Auston's memo to the board noted that staff typically outnumber the public in the building between 7 and 9 p.m. most Friday evenings. The change would shift roughly $25,000 in annual labor costs without adding staff or increasing the budget. Popular evening music programs would continue on another evening, according to the memo.

Among 15 peer libraries surveyed, only three keep Friday hours until 9 p.m., and Wilmette serves the smallest population of those three at 28,126 residents. Glenview (47,147) and Skokie (67,024) are the other two. The finance committee discussed the proposal May 11 and the full board on May 19; both expressed unanimous support, according to Auston's memo.

The library's posted hours remain Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. The board's next meeting is Tuesday, July 21, at 6:30 p.m. at the library, where Auston's memo indicated a tentative ordinance formalizing the change could appear. Meetings are open to the public.