mission statement

WPLD strives to meet the information and recreational reading needs of the library district's patrons by focusing on the following priorities:

• Commons- providing a place for community members to meet.
• Community Referral- maintaining information on services provided by community, county, and state agencies and organizations.
• Current topics and titles- providing enjoyable recreational reading experiences and information about current cultural and social trends.
• General Information- helping to meet the informational needs of patrons on a wide variety of topics for school, work and personal life.

 

services

Wilmington Public Library District offers many resources and services to users. Some of those include:

• Books
• Audiobooks (on tape and CD)
• Music CDs
• Videos
• DVDs
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Interlibrary Loan
• Internet Access
• Word processing and other software
• Laminating
• Faxing
• Scanner
• CD-Rom products for children
• Microfilm reader with the Wilmington newspaper
  on microfilm dating back to the late 1800s
• Notary Public
• Voter Registrar
• Apply for a library card online.

 

staff

Mary J. Soucie	mjsoucie@wilmingtonlibrary.org	Library Director
Nikeda F. Webb	nfwebb@wilmingtonlibrary.org	Assistant Director
Joanne Fitzpatrick	jfitzpatrick@wilmingtonlibrary.org	Technical Services Coordinator
Celeste Rudman	crudman@wilmingtonlibrary.org	Circulation Services Manager
Lynne Noffke	lnoffke@wilmingtonlibrary.org	Adult Services Manager
Mary Hammen	mhammen@wilmingtonlibrary.org	Adult Services Assistant
Samantha Begler Sally Shannon Theresa Welegala		Circulation Assistants
Nicole Nugent Sydney Schnuckel		Pages
Henry Castro		Computer Technical Support

 

policies (click to view each)

Finance Policy

Laminating Policy

Confidentiality of Library Records Policy

Equipment Policy

Computer Use Policy

Freedom of Information Act

Gifts to the Library

InterLibrary Loan Policy

Materials Selection Policy

Surplus Materials Policy

Community Room Policy

Exhibits Policy

Operating Policy

Reference Policy

Conduct Policy

Unattended Child Policy

American Library Association Freedom to Read Statement

American Library Association Freedom to View Statement

American Library Association Bill of Rights

Bloodborne Pathogens Policy

 

 

community

The city of Wilmington is located on the Kankakee River. The population is 5132. Wilmington is located southwest of Chicago between Joliet and Kankakee and is known as 'the Island City".

The Wilmington Public Library District patron base is 9229. The district encompasses all of Wilmington and Florence Townships and the majority of Wesley Township. The library is located at 201 S Kankakee St, Wilmington IL, 60481.

Wilmington School District #209-U serves the students of Wilmington is grades kindergarten through high school.

Points of interest in Wilmington include Des Plaines State Fish and Wildlife Area, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Antique stores, a variety of restaurants, shopping and entertainment opportunities, including bowling and a movie theatre.

history

The Wilmington Public Library began as a reading room in a private home by a group of Wilmington women. It moved into a space provided on the second floor of the First National Bank on Water Street in the town center. Its first books were donated from home libraries. New books were purchased and a librarian employed with the proceeds of fund-raising events such as pie sales. In 1914 the women, who could not vote themselves, were successful in persuading the voters of Wilmington Township to levy a small tax for library service. The library grew and prospered, but remained in increasingly cramped quarters for more than 55 years.

In 1969, spurred by city growth, the Board purchased the old native stone Methodist Church (circa 1857), two blocks east, on Kankakee Street and redesigned the space to accommodate library resources and services. In July 1987 the population service area was increased, following a LSCA demonstration grant, to include the residents of Florence and Wesley Townships for whom Wilmington is the town center. It became a district library. With LSCA Title II funds, an addition was constructed which includes a children's room, a meeting room, rest rooms and a new entrance; the building became handicapped accessible for the first time.

The library district was only 5 years old when tax cap legislation went into effect. It had a very small budget, with no reserves existing and the tax rate has steadily decreased. In 1997, the library board successfully passed a referendum to increase the corporate tax rate.