WESTVILLE — Westville Public Library District is turning the page of history and moving into the future. Having recently been awarded a $27,500 grant from the Secretary of State’s office, the library is also welcoming a new director.
Former director Rick Balsamello, who retired Monday, June 30, after more than 22 years in the position, wrote the grant for assistance with purchasing and updating technology in the library.
The library received notice that they were awarded the funds just a few days before Nick Sager’s first day shadowing in preparation for his role as the new director.
According to Balsamello, the library applied for the grant due to issues with some of their tech that developed in recent years.
“We lost our IT guy a few years back, so some of our maintenance that we normally would have done didn’t get done, and then we had a lot of problems with the public computers that went bad and weren’t serviceable,” he said, adding that they were able to hire a new IT professional eight months ago who was able to help improve things a bit.
Staff computers are also in need of replacement.
“They were on older technology, so we knew we had to upgrade them because some of the software that we use in our cloud connection with the library system, the old computers really don’t have the capacity to run some of the things they’re doing,” Balsamello said.
To qualify for the grant, libraries had to have a low tax base in relation to their served population.
“Libraries play a significant role in our communities, providing a place for every Illinoisan to connect, learn, and explore,” Secretary of State and State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias said. “We have a responsibility to ensure that all libraries, regardless of their community’s location or wealth, have the resources to meet the needs of residents and expand their offerings, particularly when it comes to technology.”
This year, the State gave away $1 million in grant funding to qualified libraries. For a full list of the libraries that received grants, visit ilsos.gov.
Balsamello retiring
Balsamello began his career at the library just a few short months after the library opened its new building on State Street in 2003.
“The old building, which is part of Latoz Hardware now, was three rooms and only about 1,000 square feet,” Balsamello said. “So that’s all I had ever known about libraries was that three-room building.”
At the time, his mother was serving on the library board, and they were struggling to find someone to serve in the role, Balsamello said.
“They hadn’t needed a director before, but once they moved into the new building, the board decided that they needed to have a full-time person to do all of the volume of paperwork that the state requires,” he said.
Though he had no prior experience working in the library setting, when they reached out to him about the position, Balsamello agreed because he wanted to give back, he said.
“I just felt that it was time to give something back to the community because I’d gotten a lot from it over the years, so I decided that I’d go ahead and see what happens. I never anticipated being here for that long,” he said.
He initially planned on only working in the role until they could find someone else, he said.
“I guess it took them 22 years,” he said, laughing.
Although the library suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has seen a recovery in patrons visiting the library since then, he said.
Beyond the opportunity to check out books and other media, most patrons who utilize the library benefit from the other services it provides, including printing and faxing services, public computers, a community meeting room, and more.
Though the demographic has changed over the last two decades, with more younger patrons coming than older ones, Balsamello said there are still those avid readers who can be relied on to come check out books regularly.
Now that he’ll have more time to himself, Balsamello plans to return to his love of hawking antique signs and other such items at festivals in the area.
“My son says I have to sell everything before I die because he’s not taking care of it,” he said, laughing.
He also looks forward to spending more time with his young grandson, he said.
The library will host a retirement open house for Balsamello from 2 – 4 p.m. on Sunday, July 27.
New director
Sager, a lifelong resident of Westville, said he is looking forward to serving in his new role.
“I grew up in Westville, just up in Hegler, and I’ve been a lifelong member of the school system, and I just love the library. I love the community, so just getting to be a part of that is a big deal to me,” he said.
For his part, he’s looking forward to ways to attract more patronage and bring the library up to speed
“I want to see more and more people come in. I want to be able to see the carpet needing replacing because people are walking in and out so much,” Sager said. “I think there are new ways with technology that libraries can utilize, working within the community.”
Sager said he is taking inspiration from other libraries in the area that offer opportunities for patrons to rent out more than books and movies.
“I noticed when it comes to items checked out, some libraries even rent out musical instruments and things like that. Somebody mentioned even 3D printing, and I’ve seen different craft projects using Cricut printers,” Sager said.
As for the grant, aside from replacing a computer used in the office for processing, Sager said the staff are still coming up with a concrete plan of what to do with the funding.
“The grant funds became available a few days before I started, so we haven’t really had a lot of time to sit down and come up with a bunch of different ideas,” he said, adding that the library has two years to spend the money. “We are floating around different ideas. We definitely want to put it to the best use possible.”