About Us

 For announcements and current happenings, see Library News.

Our Services for You

Your Library Card

Library cards are provided free of charge to all residents of our district, as part of your tax-supported library services. Your card gives you borrowing privileges here and at most public libraries in Illinois, access to special online resources, and more. Click here to learn how to get a library card.

Interlibrary Loan

If you need a book, DVD, or other item that we don't have, ask us to borrow it from another library for you.  [Request forms are available at the front desk].

Reference Desk

If you would like to reserve and item check with staff.  The New York Times bestseller list is on the check out count.  All items available at the East Dubuque District Library are highlighted.

Programs and Events

We have a regular schedule of educational and cultural events for all ages. See our calendar for details.

Computers

Junior Patrons are limited to 1 hour per day.  Adults are allowed to use the computors longer if no one is waiting.  Everyone who uses a library computer must follow our policy regarding computer and Internet use.

Photocopiers and Fax Machine

Copies cost:$1.00 for color and 15 cents for black & white.
Fax cost: $1.00 per page to send a fax and 50 cents a page to recieve.

Community/Meeting Room

Call ahead to reserve any of the three spaces available for meetings.  Study Room- 12 persons, Kitchenette -16, Craft Room-9.  Any group wishing to use the Community Room must agree to follow library policies.

Library Policies

Below are some of the policies about the public's use of the library.

Behavior in the Library

 

1. A patron of any age who is talking loudly enough to disturb other patrons, or engaging in any activity which disturbs or harasses other patrons or staff, or is damaging library  materials, technology or facilities will be asked to desist from such activity immediately.
 
2. If, following such a request, the patron refuses to comply, or responds to the request in an abusive fashion, he or she  will be required to leave the library premises immediately for the remainder of that calendar day. If he or she fails to do so, the police will be called. Each time this occurs it is considered an offense.
 
3. Upon a third offense, the parton may be required to surrender his or her library card, or be barred from the library premises for a period of not less than one month, or both. 

Circulation Policy

1. There is no limit to the number of items that may be borrowed by a card holder, with the following exceptions:

a. The number of new books a patron can check out may be limited at the discretion of the librarian.
b.  A limit of three items may be checked out by a new card holder, with a maximum of 6 per family. 
  Once it has been established that such a patron is a responsible card holder, there will no longer be a limit imposed. 
c.  Members of families who are habitually a month or more late in returning library materials may be denied library privileges for a time,
or be limited as to the number of books or other materials they can check out at one time.
d. Certain reference and other so designated books and materials are not available for circulation.
e. DVDs and videotapes will be limited to 3 per household during any one circulation period.
      
 
2. Renewals can be made in person, over the phone or by e-mail. (Most materials may be renewed unless the item is on the reserve list.)
Materials will be renewed once and after that they must be returned and checked out again if they are needed longer, provided no one is waiting on the material.
       

Community Room Use

Rules for meeting room use

a. Reservations for the meeting room have to be made by a resident of the library's jurisdictional area.  The Librarian on duty will take care of scheduling.

b.  Minors may use the room but must have a responsible adult present as a chaperone and adults must book the room for minoirs.

c.  Rooms may be booked three months in advance.

d.  Meetings must be held during regular library hours and meetings must end at least 15 minutes before the library closes.

e.  Smoking and alcholoic beverages are not allowed on library property.

f.  Light refreshments such as cookies etc may be served.

g. If a room is not left in good condition and requires clean up by library personnel, a $20. per hour fee will be charged.

h.  All meetings must be open to the public.

(Visit the library to see the complete meeting room policy before reserving a room.)

Study room capacity twelve, Kitchenette capacity sixteen and craft room capacity nine.

Computer/Internet Use

1. Minors 17 years old and younger need parental or guardian permission on file with the library to use the computer. All Internet users, adult and children, must sign an Internet agreement. If 17 years old or younger, he or she must have a parent or guardian sign an Internet agreement for the purpose of allowing the child Internet access. East Dubuque District Library assumes no responsibility for use of the Internet by children.

2. Patrons agree to abide by all copyright and licensing laws. No patron may make unauthorized copies of software through the use of the library’s computers. Any such action will result in the suspension or revocation of computer privileges and legal action may be pursued against patrons violating this policy by the library district or others.

3. Users must SIGN IN with the librarian before each use of the Computer or Internet.
Use of the patron computers by minors (17 years of age and under) is limited to one session, one hour per day. Priority of computer usage may be set by the librarian on duty. Adults may use the computer as long as they wish as long as no one else is waiting. If someone is waiting an adult session will be limited to one hour.

4. Only one person is allowed to use the computer at a time. In some cases, librarians may grant special permission for two people to work together on the computer.

5. Loud, disruptive behavior will not be tolerated in the computer area. One warning will be given. If a second warning is necessary, computer privileges will be taken away for one month.    
 
(To see the library's full computor policy ask any librarian)    

Freedom of Information Act

 

East Dubuque District Library The Illinois Freedom of Information Act
 
I.   A brief description of our public body is as follows:
 
A. The purpose of the East Dubuque District Library is to provide materials and services for the recreational, social, informational, and educational needs of the community.
B.   An organizational chart is attached. (Appendix F)
C.     Our operating budget is on file at the library.
The total amount of our operating budget for 2009-2010  is: $921,626.70
Funding sources are property and personal property replacement taxes, state and federal grants, fines, charges, and donations. Tax levies are:
1.   Corporate purposes (for general operating expenditures)
2.   IMRF (provides for employee’s retirement and related expenses)
3.   Social Security (provides for employee’s FICA costs and related expenses)
4.   Audit (for annual audit and related expenses)
5.   Maintenance (for maintaining the building)
6.     Tort Liability (for insurance premiums, risk management, attorney’s fees and related expenses, unemployment and worker’s compensation insurance)
7.     Working Cash (for internal loans)
 
D. The office is located at this address: 350 Wall Street, East Dubuque, IL 61025
 
E.   We have approximately the following number of persons employed:
                        1.         Full-time          1
                        2.         Part-time          7
 
F.   The following organization exercises control over our policies and procedures: The East Dubuque Library Board of Trustees, which meets monthly on the 2nd Thursday of each month, 4:30 p.m., at the library.
 
Its members are: Vickie Middendorf, President; Norm Welp, Vice President; Pearl Rosemeyer, Secretary; Linda Waltz, Treasurer; Janell Temperley, Casey Klein and Stephanie Lange.
 
 
G. We are required to report and be answerable for our operations to:
Illinois State Library, Springfield, Illinois. Its members are: State Librarian, Jesse White; Director of State Library, Anne Craig; and various other staff.
 
H.     You may request the information and the records available to the public in the following manner:     
A.     Use request form (Appendix G).
B.     Your request should be directed to the following individual: Michelle Wessels,  FOIA officer.
C.     You must indicate whether you have a “commercial purpose”[1] in your request.[2]
D.     You must specify the records requested to be disclosed for inspection or to be copied. If you desire that any records be certified, you must specify which ones.
E.      To reimburse us our actual costs for reproducing and certifying (if requested) the records, you will be charged the following fees:
            There is a $1.00 charge for each certification of records.
            There is no charge for the first fifty (50) pages of black and white text either letter or legal size;
There is a $.15 per page charge for copied records in excess of 50 pages;
The actual copying cost of color copies and other sized copies will be charged.
F.      If the records are kept in electronic format, you may request a specific format and if feasible, they will be so provided, but if not, they will be provided either in the electronic format in which they are kept (and you would be required to pay the actual cost of the medium only, i.e. disc, diskette, tape, etc.) or in paper as you select.
G.     The office will respond to a written request within five (5) working days or sooner if possible. An extension of an additional five (5) working days may be necessary to properly respond.
H.     Records may be inspected or copied. If inspected, an employee must be present throughout the inspection.
I.        The place and times where the records will be available are as follows:
Monday through Thursday 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Fridays 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Saturdays 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
East Dubuque District Library, Administrative Offices
 
III.      Certain types of information maintained by us are exempt from inspection and copying. However, the following types or categories of records are maintained under our control:
 
A.        Monthly Financial Statements
B.         Annual Receipts and Disbursements Reports
C.         Budget and Appropriation Ordinances
D.        Levy Ordinances
E.         Operating Budgets
F.         Annual Audits
G.        Minutes of the Board of Library Trustees
H.        Library Policies, including Materials Selection
I.          Adopted Ordinances and Resolutions of the Board
J.          Annual Reports to the Illinois State Library
K.        Local, State and Federal Grant Applications and Reports



East Dubuque District Library Organizational Chart/seven member board
 
                                               
Board of Library Trustees
Vickie Middendorf-President
Norm Welp-Vice-President
Pearl Rosemeyer-Secretary
Linda Waltz-Treasurer
Janell Temperley-Trustee
Casey Klein-Trustee
Stephanie Lange-Trustee
 
Library Director-Michelle Wessels
Bookkeeper-Honkamp, Krueger and Company
 
 
 
 Children Programming                                             Assistant Librarian-Rose Whisler
 and Outreach Librarian                               
       Kathy Williams
 
                                                Library Assistant-Marianna Chase
                                                Library Assistant-Shari Neyens
                                                Library Assistant-Kim Steines
                                                Fill-in Employee-Mary Lu Leibold
                        Fill-in Employee-Ruth Ruen

                   East Dubuque District Library
Freedom of Information Request
 



 

Requestor’s Name (or business name, if applicable)   Date of Request                       Phone number
 
 



 

Street Address                                                              Certification requested:
 
             Yes                             No
 



 

City                  State                 Zip
 
 



 

Description of Records Requested:
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
 
Is the reason for this request a “commercial purpose” as defined in the Act?   ___ Yes          ___ No
 



 

Library Response (Requestor does not fill in below this line)
 



 

A         ( )        The documents requested are enclosed.
P          ( )        You may inspect the records at                                                                       
P                      on the date of                          .
R          ( )        The documents will be made available upon payment of copying costs of
O                     $                      .
V        
E          ( )        For “commercial requests” only: the estimated time of when the documents
D                     will be available is _______________, at the prepaid costs stated above.
 



 

            ( )        The request creates an undue burden on the public body in accordance with
Section 3(g) of the Freedom of Information Act, and we are unable to negotiate a more reasonable request.
D         ( )        The materials requested are exempt under Section 7                of the
E                      Freedom of Information Act for the following reasons:         
N                                                                                                                                            
I                                                                                                                                              
E                      Individual(s) that determined request to be denied and title: _________________
D                                                                                                                     ______                        .
In the event of a denial, you have the right to seek review by the Public Access
Counselor at (217) 558-0486 or 500 S. Second St., Springfield, IL 62705
Or you have the right to judicial review under section 11 of FOIA.
( )        Request delayed, for the following reasons (in accordance with 3(e) of the                FOIA):                                     . You will be notified by the date of               __        as to the action taken on your request.
 
NOTE: This form cannot be MANDATORY under FOIA, but it is preferred. Failure to use it may result in the request not being properly or promptly processed. 
 



 

FOIA Officer                                                               Date of Reply


 
 

Unattended Children

Parents are responsible for the behavior of their children while they are in the library.

 The East Dubuque District Library staff is committed to help children with activities related to the library. The library encourages children to come to the library, however, the library cannot, nor is it their responsibility to serve as baby-sitters, teachers or disciplinarians. Violations of this policy are grounds for suspension of library privileges. Whenever advisable, the Librarian will notify the parents of incidents involving an unattended child with form in (Appendix S)
 
 Children under the age of 5 must be accompanied and directly supervised at all times by a parent or other responsible caregiver. When the safety of an unattended child is in doubt, or if the library is closing, library staff is authorized to call the police and stay with the child until the police arrive. Under NO circumstances will the staff be allowed to drive the child home. 
 
 

History of the Library

The East Dubuque District Library was formed in 1937 as a WPA project.  It was a city library at that time.  In 1997, the library went to referendum to become a district library.  The referendum passed and more than doubled the population served by the  library.  The library began to serve this new population out of its old and very small building on the corner of Sinsinawa and Wisconsin Avenue.  In September of 2007 the library moved to its current location on Wall Street.  We rent this building from the State of Illinois and are in the process of moving to a permanent home.  Moving into the old city hall will give us a larger space with a parking lot.  Computor usage, patron visits and materials ciruclated have all gone up drastically over the past year.  With the addition of a teen room in our current space we have begun to seen and increase in the junior high, teen and young adult population at the library.  The library currently serves a population of 4459 and has three grade schools and one high school in our district.

Volunteer Opportunities

Talk to Kathy at the library if you are interested in volunteering at the library.  Currently we are only taking high school volunteers who need to fulfill their graduation requirements.

Illinois State Library Services

The Illinois State Library provides you with services directly, through us, and in cooperation with other agencies.