The Cook Memorial Public Library District (CMPLD) serves 61,000 residents in Libertyville, Green Oaks, Vernon Hills, Mettawa, and portions of Mundelein, Illinois.
Timeline
1909: Local library service began when the Alpha Club (now the Libertyville Woman’s Club) began a subscription library. The Libertyville drugstore Decker and Bond housed the collection beginning in 1910.
1914: The growing collection found a new home in the Libertyville Village Hall.
1920: The home and property of Ansel Brainerd Cook were donated to the Village of Libertyville to be used as a library and park. The library took Cook’s name when it opened in 1921 as Cook Memorial Library in the Cook House in the heart of downtown Libertyville.
1924: Oversight of the library was transferred from the Village Library Board to the newly formed Township Library Board.
1966: Libertyville voters approved a $450,000 referendum to fund a new library building.
1968: A new 28,000-square-foot building was constructed behind the Cook House.
1973: The Libertyville Township Library Board was dissolved with the formation of the Cook Memorial Public Library District. Shortly thereafter, parts of northern Vernon Township in Vernon Hills were annexed into the library district.
1996: The library district’s population was more than 47,000 and its annual circulation was more than one million items. The population served by CMPLD continued to grow, library space became crowded. Three unsuccessful referenda for expansion left the district’s building cramped and the growing southern part of the library district under-served.
2002: Then serving a population of more than 58,000, CMPLD entered into an agreement with the Village of Vernon Hills to rent space in the lower level of its Village Hall on Evergreen Drive. The Evergreen Interim Library operated from 2003 to 2010.
2007: The CMPLD board adopted a $14-million expansion proposal calling for the construction of a new 20,000-square-foot library on Aspen Drive in Vernon Hills and the addition of a new 11,000-square- foot children’s wing as well as renovations to Cook Park Library in Libertyville. Both projects were financed without raising taxes.
2010: Aspen Drive Library opened on July 10.
2011: The renovated and expanded Cook Park Library reopened on January 8.
2015: To address increased demand at Aspen Drive Library, a new 50-space parking lot was constructed.
2018: CMPLD board approved a plan to add a 15,000 sq. ft. addition to Aspen Drive Library.
2019: Aspen Drive Library expansion project completed. Grand opening November 23.
2021: CMPLD celebrated its Centennial with a year of special programs.
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