Our Vision:
Educate- Captivate - Connect
The Library educates the community by raising awareness of all that it offers. The Library strives to captivate the attention of individuals by connecting with materials, technology, and programs – there is truly something for everyone at the Library. The Library connects by making access easy and growing in a sustainable way.
Our Mission:
We strive to educate, inform, entertain, and culturally enrich our community.
The Library’s mission states what the Library will do to achieve its vision. Carrying out the mission is an ongoing process that promotes lifelong learning, civic participation, the joy of reading, and cultural understanding. All library services and programs connect to the mission and the work of staff helps the Library advance this mission every day.
Grab & Go Library Lockers
The Library’s Grab & Go Lockers are located outside at Plainfield East High School, 12001 Naperville Road, and give the community 24/7, contactless access to requested library materials.
Total Patron Visits: 1,283
Total Number of Items Placed in Lockers: 2,034
Total Number of New Patrons Who Used the Lockers: 51
Library Collection: Diversity Audit
Diversity audit: department staff have been conducting an audit of the Adult Fiction collection with the goal of building a collection that not only reflects the community but also the world. This entails researching each book to obtain representative percentages on a variety of parameters: race/ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, diverse abilities and more. The data will be used to fill in gaps in the collection and to incorporate diversity into reading recommendations, displays and more.
18,803 adult fiction books have been audited to date.
Adult Programming
5,513 patrons attended 847 programs
450 Take & Make Kits were handed out to adults
In the fall of 2021, the Library debuted maker programs for the community using the Library's Dremel DigiLab 3D Printer. Attendees of these programs have designed and printed cookie cutters, ornaments, keychains and desktop planters.
Seed Library
The Seed Library opened on March 1, 2022 offering a range of herb, vegetable, flower and native plants seeds for patrons to enjoy in their home gardens. Seeds were donated by local businesses and sorted and packaged by teen volunteers.
The Seed Library was very popular. 8,022 packets of seeds were given out to the Plainfield Community representing 208 different types of flowers, herbs and vegetables.
Community Garden Plots
In partnership with the Plainfield Township, the Library was able to rent out 24 garden plots to community members. The Library has 3 plots where we are growing Zinnias, Sweet Peas, Marigolds, Corn, Squash, Peppers, Tomatoes and various herbs. The food grown will be available for free to anyone through our mini food bank.
Donations from Plainfield Rotary and The Plainfield Lions Club
The Library received over $800 in donations to purchase a tool box and gardening tools for the owners of the garden plots to have easy access to the tools they need to care for their gardens.
Golf the Walk
The first Golf the Walk event was held at the StoryWalk at Settler's Park. The Library invited local businesses and organizations to come out and set-up a booth to promote their business free of charge. There were over 150 golfers, ice cream, an appearance by Curious George and a (w)hole lot of fun!
Handmade Holiday Market
Another first this year was the Handmade Holiday Market. Held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving during the Heart of Christmas, the market gave the community another place to visit while downtown enjoying all of the holiday activities. We had over 30 vendors set up and over 500 shoppers.
New Name, New Look
FY22 ended with a big, exciting change! The Plainfield Public Library District rebranded to Plainfield Area Public Library. Along with the new name comes a sleek new logo. Our new look developed out of the Library’s 2020-2024 strategic plan and is part of a larger brand refresh project to make all of the communities within our district boundaries feel more inclusive and welcome. For more information on the Library’s brand refresh read the full press release here.