Having sought ways to reach out to the far sides of town for years, the Arlington Heights Memorial Library will install 24/7 pickup lockers for books and other materials in two parks on the north and south sides of the village.
The large metal boxes — each containing 30 individual lockers — will be placed this fall at Camelot Park on the north and Heritage Park on the south, under an intergovernmental agreement inked by the library board in July and pending a vote by the park board.
The addition of pickup lockers on both sides of town helps “fulfill our goal of reaching outside of our walls and trying to be where our customers are for our services,” said Mike Driskell, the library’s executive director.
A similar locker was placed in the library’s lower-level garage at the start of the year, seen as a way to provide access to library materials at a time that is convenient for customers — even if the library is closed, Driskell said.
Anyone with an Arlington Heights library card can go to the library’s website to place an item on hold. Library staff then will place the item in the lockers, and the cardholder will have three days to pick it up.
Users scan their library cards or input the card number using a keypad, and one of the locker doors pops open.
The self-service machine in the library garage was used by about 100 people in its first month, and those numbers have ramped up ever since, said Driskell, who expects the lockers in the parks to be used even more.
The first locker was funded by Gallagher Insurance through a donation to the Arlington Heights Memorial Library Foundation. The next two lockers also will be funded by donations, Driskell said.
D-Tech International, the New Jersey-based manufacturer, is offering a discount since the purchase is within six months of the first one, he added.
Library officials didn’t announce an exact launch date for the new lockers. They still have to install utilities, including electrical hookups and computer networking at each park. Each machine will be covered by a shelter overhang and have lighting.
There is a return book bin at Camelot Park; the park district is letting the library place one at Heritage Park, too.