2019 Suggestions and Comments

The library welcomes member suggestions, comments, and ideas for improvements and, where possible and practical, makes adjustments.

Please email additional remarks to reference followed by @gepl.org. A library staff member will respond to all comments that include the correspondent’s contact information. Comments and responses are also posted in the lobby of the library.

December 2019 Suggestions 

875. I am asking you to offer Consumer Reports Digital as an electronic reference. You now offer the digital magazine articles by EBSCO. I am asking for the digital Consumer Reports which directly shows current Consumer Report data – not the articles. You have a very good library.
Thank you for the suggestion. Indeed, EBSCO often runs 2-3 months behind with the current Consumer Reports data. We will be adding the digital Consumer Reports product in 2020.

876. Why can I not use Medigap on the library’s digital library? Medicare is due on Dec. 7 for changes.
Yes, we were also frustrated by this outage. The problem was on the Medigap side and there was nothing we could do but wait for them to fix it.

November 2019 Suggestions

870. ____ in Youth Services was so personable and helpful today! Please say thank you again for me. : )
Thank you for the lovely compliment. It will be shared with the staff member and their supervisor.

871. WOW! Just enjoyed my first lunch from The Cafe. Lights out!! My family has very much enjoyed visiting the library since moving here in 2018 but have not yet ate at The Cafe. Not only will I frequent the counter, but I will share the experience. The soup and sandwich were made to order custom and delicious.
We are so pleased that you enjoyed your meal!! Please do help us spread the word – all proceeds from The Cafe go straight to the library.

872. Me and my friends love to come to the library to study and get work done. This is a great place to do it. Thanks so much for being a great resource to students!!!!
Thank you for the lovely compliment. We are so happy you and your friends feel comfortable using the library.

873. I came in with my son needing help with a presentation. I had not read the book, so I felt I was not much help. ____ went above and beyond, encouraging my son. ____ was so knowledgeable! I am so grateful.
Thank you for the lovely compliment. It will be shared with the staff member and their supervisor.

874. _______ is nice, genuine and professional, helpful and kind. _____ has a passion for the job and I had a great experience! Thank you!
We are so happy you had a good experience! Your compliment will be shared both with the staff member and their supervisor.

October 2019 Suggestions

863. I really enjoyed Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen by Sarah Bird. This is an emotional, suspenseful roller coaster. With a hard won happily ever after. Great words smith. The dialect was great to hear on C.D.
We are very happy you enjoyed this title. Thank you for sharing.

864. A good library.
Thank you!!

865. More Elsa books please.
We purchase as many books about Elsa as we can. They are so popular it is hard to keep them on the shelf.

866. Just a quick thank you. Both of my children have special needs. Everyone seems to understand when a child is very quiet, but both of my boys are hyperverbal and can be loud due to their struggles. Thank you for *never shushing them* and allowing kids to be kids. Without having to violate privacy and disclose to explain- they get to be just kids instead of kids with special needs. Also, never asking them to slow down, never run, etc. So thankful for the freedom to let them be themselves.
We are happy to provide a place where your children feel comfortable and welcome.

867. This is to strongly urge the library to restrict smoking to inside parked vehicles like COD. I have an extremely severe, advanced lung disease. Any exposure to smoke is a serious threat to my health and life. Thank you.
The Library Board approved the Library as a completely smoke free campus, November 19, 2012. This means no one should be smoking on our property, unless they are in their car. They may stand off library property, along the Prairie Path or west of the library parking lot to smoke. If you see someone smoking on library property outside of their own vehicle, please inform a staff member immediately.

868. I love the library!
Thank you for the lovely compliment.

869. Please accept my great thanks for taking the trouble to get the loan I requested from such a distant library!
We are happy to place Interlibrary Loans with other libraries in order to obtain the titles members like yourself request.

September 2019 Suggestions

855. I’m not sure about the logistics, but I heard of another library that checked out board games and thought it was a great idea.
We will consider this idea. Are there any particular games you would want to check out?

856. It will be “great” if you separate upstairs restrooms into Men and Women.
On April 11, the Illinois state Senate voted 53-0 in favor of SB 556, otherwise known as the “Equitable Restrooms Act,” which would have all single-occupancy restrooms in “places of public accommodation” be labeled as gender-neutral.
On May 21, the state House passed the bill on a 109-5 vote, and on Friday, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the legislation into law. This law goes into effect on January 1, 2020.

857. For GEPL GIZMOS, I would like for the Library to acquire a metal detector. It would be fun to use a couple times.
Perhaps we can add one next year. We will investigate the possibilities.

858. You’re doing all the right things! Love the snack bar and your online reserve system! You are GE’s best resource!
Thank you for the lovely compliment!

859. It would be cool if when checking out, a pop-up appeared saying if you had already checked the book out to me in the past. Thank you!
In order to protect your privacy, we purposely do not retain a list of all of the items you have ever checked out.

860. Please do something to recognize ______ . The incredible patience provided to my 5 year old grandson is amazing!! As a grandmother who is not familiar with Minecraft, it is awesome to have____ accessible and kind to both me and my grandson.
Thank you for the lovely compliment. It will be shared with both the staff member and their supervisor.

861. Please add toilet seat cover/liners for better hygiene.
We do not plan to add toilet seat covers/liners. If you enter one of our restrooms and find it is not clean, please report this to a staff person. Our maintenance staff will clean it as soon as possible. They currently monitor both toilet paper supply and cleanliness periodically throughout the day.

862. Install a handicap automatic door opener in the restroom. People in wheelchairs have a VERY hard time exiting independently.
We have investigated adding automatic openers and found it to be cost prohibitive. The restroom door can be propped open when you enter and then it will remain open until you have exited. Please feel free to ask a staff member to assist you with this.

August 2019 Suggestions

841. Medi Gap session- Great session – will save me hundreds of dollars when choosing my new Medicare supplement!!!!! Thank you so much!
We are so glad you found it informative!

842. Excellent program this week! Appreciate it/them! Thank you!
Very happy to hear you enjoyed the program.

843. Please install handicap buttons on lower restrooms. Not a good set up for handicap or parents w/strollers. Wheelchairs and walkers cannot enter safely.
Always feel free to ask a staff member to assist you opening the doors. Building code does not require these buttons in this application. We investigated the cost and feasibility of adding handicap accessible buttons to the 1st floor restrooms in 2018.

844. For the projector rentals, it would be more useful if screen and speaker rentals were also available. I’ll need to rent separately if I do an outdoor neighborhood presentation.
We do not plan to add screens or speakers to our Gizmo collection currently.

845. It would be helpful to have a ceiling fan or some way to disperse the strong smells that emanate from the café! Especially the burning smells.
The café does have an exhaust fan. If you notice a strong smell, please feel free to ask the staff at the café if they have the exhaust fan running.

846. You need a dedicated space for strollers, scooters, wagons and bikes. Inside under the “Welcome” sign would be perfect.
The small space under the “Welcome” sign would not be an adequate amount of space for the variety of items mentioned. We do provide designated bike parking at the northeast corner of the parking lot. We also have designated stroller parking in the youth area under the bulletin board by the program room. Wagons can be parked in stroller parking area or under the canopy on the south side of the building to the east of the door. We also ask that scooters are left outside under the canopy up against the wall to the east of the door.

847. Need to know when chargers for phones will be available to checkout and borrow at the Glen Ellyn Library location.
We currently do not have plans to circulate phone chargers to take home, however we have charging stations in the building for you to use when visiting our location.

848. Consider adding a thermo-imaging camera for looking for heat loss from home in winter. Helps us to look for heat loss to help with insulation.
Thank you, we will take your recommendation in to consideration.

849. Another super program today on eating healthy as you age! Great work!
Thank you. We are glad you enjoyed the program.

850. Looking for an American Girl Bitty Baby doll rental for toddlers.
Thank you for the suggestion. We will take it in to consideration.

851. The organizational format of the children’s picture books is confusing and very difficult to find books. The need to go to an iPad terminal to determine how you categorized the section does make this easier or quicker.
So sorry to hear that you find the outward facing picture books, organized by categories difficult to navigate. We have found that young children look for picture books by categories like trucks and superheroes, rather than by author and title. Circulation of picture books increased by over 40% when we made this change. Please feel free to ask a staff person for help if you are having trouble locating the books you are looking for.

852. Do the speed bumps really need to be that high?
Sadly, the lower speed bumps did not deter many people from speeding around the turn. We often received comments about cars coming around the turn too fast and people being concerned for their safety and the safety of others. The higher speed bumps have reduced the number of comments regarding people driving through the parking lot too quickly.

853. Implementing hand sanitizer dispensers would be highly beneficial.
We couldn’t agree more that is why we provide hand sanitizer dispensers in six different locations throughout the building. You can find hand sanitizer dispensers at the Library Services Desk, in a standing dispenser by the bottom of the stairs, on the Youth Desk, in a standing dispenser as you exit the Youth Department, at the 2nd Floor Information Desk, and in a standing dispenser near the elevator on the 2nd floor.

854. Please continue our subscription to The Christian Century. This is a progressive, informative and liberal publication with an appeal to most of our religious constituents.
The subscription is in the process of being renewed. It should be back on the shelf by the end of the year.

July 2019 Suggestions

829. Could you somehow prevent children from running inside the library? Speed bumps for children perhaps?
Staff actively work to redirect this behavior. During the summer we are so busy and have large numbers of children attending programs and participating in summer reading and we are not able to catch every instance of misbehavior as it occurs. If you notice something that needs to be addressed, please bring it to the attention of a staff member.

830. Put back the contact list for local libraries like Lombard, Wheaton etc. so we can find books that are not in your search file. You took them out when you upgraded your home pages on the computer.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This was an oversight. We are in the process of having a list added within the catalog that will provide links to local libraries not in the SWAN system like Wheaton, Lombard, College of DuPage. In the meantime, a Worldcat search of the title you are looking for would confirm if these libraries have a copy of the title.

831. The options with the summer reading program have been great this year! Between my 4 kids, I have some that love the reading only, but for my kids that prefer to be outside or doing craft/art projects, this is a great balance! Great job meeting all peoples interests this summer!
Thank you for the lovely compliment!

832. I absolutely love the automatic renewals. I moved to another town, but I keep coming here because it’s so easy to get what I want.
Thank you for sharing!

833. Dear Amazing Glen Ellyn Library, I was noticing other libraries have “Gizmo” like shelves. I think as a wish list, it would be cool to purchase some tablets, Nintendo Switches and other entertainment media. That would be SO COOL! This is the BEST!
We too have started a “Gizmo” collection. More information will be out soon. Currently, we have projectors, sewing machines, DVD player, cd player, rokus and kilowatt meters in our collection. Soon we will be adding a karaoke kit and hotspots. We will take your suggestions into consideration as we add more items to this collection.

834. Put a pedestrian book return under the overhang on the south of the building, so I don’t have to walk in the car lane to return a book.
This is an interesting idea. When we had the separate drop outside very few items were being placed in it, so we removed it. We will consider this alternate location.

835. Your self-drop off chute is too short. If your car is not right next tot eh chute the item will get stuck and you can not open your car door. You must back up and get out to push the item all the way in. A poorly designed drop.
We are sorry you had difficulty with our outside drop. Others have voiced concerns that it extends out to far and they are concerned their car will collide with it. We continue to monitor the situation.

836. I finally had a chance to walk around SLOWLY and take it all in… WOW what an amazing “new” space… such a beautiful job of marrying the early 90’s building to 21st century needs. Thoughtful and tasteful use of space and- as always- the staff continues to prove helpful and charming. This library is a credit to G.E. and a marvelous example of the possibilities of a public space!
Thank you very much!! It was a long and involved process. We are very happy to know you are pleased with the result.

837. The lecture by the chiropractor was excellent!!
So happy you enjoyed it!

838. _____ helped me set up eBooks on my iPad today. ____ was so exact, patient, knowledgeable, and very helpful in every way. G.E. Library is fortunate to have ___ working at this library. A special thank you to ____ . A++
Thank you for the lovely compliment! It will be shared with both the staff member and their supervisor.

839. I’d love to see the library invest in a laminator for patron use. Parents are interested in laminating literacy activities etc. and it would be well used!
We will take this into consideration. Thank you for the suggestion.

840. We really love the new children’s section. It is a great way to get kids to want to come to the library and to encourage them to read. We also love the café. Just great to have a little something when you’re feeling a bit peakish.
Thank you for the lovely compliment.

June 2019 Suggestions

816. Please disinfect tables they are very dirty.
Thank you for brining this to our attention. All tables were deep cleaned this morning after we received your note. Please feel free to point this type of issue out to staff as soon as you notice it. This task is the responsibility of the nightly cleaning crew. Clearly it had not been done for some time. We have brought this matter to their attention.

817. Please bring in/convert computers so there is more than 1 PreK – K appropriate machine.
Please ask a staff member about the launchpads we have for use in the youth department. These devices are kept at the desk and can be used anywhere in the department. They have preloaded PreK- K early literacy programs on them and we would be happy to show you how they work.

818. Where are the additional speed bumps in the parking lot? Someone had responded that there would be at least three after the end of the snowfalls.
The additional set of speed bumps are here. They require drilling into the parking lot to install and this was scheduled to be completed when the parking lot was sealed over the Memorial Day weekend. Sadly, that date was rained out. Now this work is scheduled to be completed on the 4th of July, if the weather cooperates.

819. You have a great Library. Thanks for having us.
Thank you for the lovely compliment.

820. This is a superb library! Thank you so much.
Thanks for sharing!

821. ______ is really great, always there for me and my family!
Thank you. Your compliment will be shared with the staff member and their supervisor.

822. Please purchase more books on autism/Asperger syndrome for adults. Also, I am loving the teen pride display! Thank you!
We will look for more books on this subject. We are happy to hear you like the display.

823. You should have a pool and a 3d grade only room and you should let pets in the Library.
Those are very interesting ideas. Thank you for sharing.

824. Kudos to _____, who must have earned 10,000 steps locating a book for me that was “on the shelf” but not. Looking in all the hiding places, including “to be shelved”. So, I can now face my book group well read. The book, incidentally, was The Library Book!
Thank you for the compliment! It will be shared with the staff member and their supervisor.

825. Thank you so much for the Pride Display in the Youth Department. It made me tear up. I wish it had been there when I was a kid. Thank you! And thanks to _____ in the Youth Department for helping me find books for my son!
Thank you for sharing! We are always happy to help.

826. Excuse me. The GEPL Youth Department rocks. It’s a beautiful space. The staff is crazy helpful. We love our library. P.S. Love, love the summer reading/activity kids’ game/program. So well done.
Thank you. We are so happy to hear you are enjoying our summer reading program this year.

827. Trans Like Me by CN Lester is absolutely stunning in the amount of information and the presentation. And there is so much information I wanted to read it in addition to audio, and you had that also!
We are happy to be of service.

828. Fantastic job by the marketing team on the kids’ summer reading activity program game board. It’s beautiful. So professional.
Thank you – that really means a lot!!

May 2019 Suggestions

814. _____ has been the most helpful and most pleasant person I have met in a long time. They make it fun to come to this library.
     Thank you for the lovely compliment! It will be shared with both the staff member and their supervisor.

815. Thank you so much for bringing Pete the Cat to the library lobby after being at the Prairie Path : )
     We are so happy you enjoyed Pete’s visit!

April 2019 Suggestions

805. The computer room is dirty and smelly from people eating and drinking in the room. The computer keyboards are filthy. Stop the eating and drinking in the computer room.
     Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Indeed, the keyboards were filthy, and the tables needed cleaned. The keyboards and mice were very old and dirty and have all been replaced with new clean ones from our backstock. The tables have all been cleaned and will now be done on a regular basis.

806. I suggest you put in a pool.
     Thank you for the suggestion. We do not have space for a pool, but perhaps we can do a swimming program with the Park District.

807. Put in a kids only room, a pool and a playground.
     Interesting ideas, thank you for sharing.

808. The personnel here is wonderful…helpful and pleasant is their middle name. Hats off to all of the Glen Ellyn Library. On a personal level, I especially appreciate the Book Club service.
     Thank you – we truly appreciate the lovely compliment!!

809. More manga please.
     Your suggestion will be shared with the staff responsible for purchasing this material.

810. I like this place a lot- you give prizes!!
     Thank you – we are happy to hear you enjoy spending time at the library.

811. Vent fan in the men’s room could be more effective. I love this library!
     Thank you for brining this to our attention – we will look in to it.

812. Buy more manga such as series “ My Hero Academia”, “Water Dragon’s Bride”, “Full Metal Alchemist”, “Library Wars” and many others. Consider buying the rest of half-finished series.
     Your suggestion will be shared with the staff responsible for purchasing this material.

813. I nominate _________ for librarian of the month!
     Thank you – this will be shared with the staff member and their supervisor.

March 2019 Suggestions

798. The remodeling looks fabulous and the café is terrific!! A very nice, outgoing youth staff person showed us around.
We are happy you enjoyed your visit!!

799. You did an awesome job on the renovation in Circ!
Thank you for the lovely compliment!

800. I really like the service. You guys have amazing books and employees. This is my 2nd home. I love it now after it has been remodeled. Your service is great BTW.
Thank you for the lovely compliment.

801. The Glen Ellyn Library is coming along very well. I enjoy coming in and studying, visiting, reading, looking. Well done to the staff! All round great place. Thank you!
Thank you to you as well.

802. ______ is amazing! Always goes above and beyond.
Thank you for the compliment. It will be shared with the staff member and their supervisor.

803. I think that eight 15-minute spots so close to the door is too many.
We are working to find the right balance of short-term parking spots and regular spots. We recently added the new row of 15-minute spots on the north side of the lot to try and prevent cars from parking in the drive thru lane – just to run in quickly.

804. Can you please order the Pimsleur Spanish Audio level 1,2,3,4, and 5? I checked level 1 out and had to interlibrary loan it. Now I am #5 on the waitlist for level 2.
Thank you for the suggestion. We will investigate the possibility of purchasing this resource. In the meantime, please take a look at Mango Languages, available from our website under Digital Resources. This system teaches actual conversation skills for over 60 languages from around the world, including Spanish.

February 2019 Suggestions

792. I want to praise the excellent service provided by ______, friendly knowledgeable and willing to go the extra step to help. I always look forward to seeing ___ even if it is only for a smile and a wave.
Thank you for the lovely compliment. It will be shared with the individual and their supervisor.

793. I think this is a nice library! : )
Thank you – happy to hear it.

794. The used book corner is not as good as it used to be. Have you stopped maintaining it?
The used book corner is being maintained by the Friends of the Library three times a week. If you have particular ideas for improvement, please let us know, so we can share with the Friends.

795. Please get physical books by Joni Eareckson Tada and Nick Vujicic.
We have Life Without Limits and Be the Hands and Feet by Nick Vujicic. There are several other titles available by both authors in the SWAN catalog. Please ask a staff member to help you place a hold on these items.

796. We love your book classes for baby and toddler. The breaks in between are too long!!
Thank you for your comment. We’re so glad you’re enjoying our storytimes. We do take breaks in between sessions so that we can refresh our repertoires, enhance our skillsets, and provide other services to our members such as outreach, programming for older kids, and collection development. We launch our “Smart Starts” hands on learning stations during the breaks so that grownups and children can still enjoy some enriching literacy experiences here at the library while the storytellers are on a break. However, due to high demand, we are going to extend our fall session from 6 to 8 weeks, to provide more storytime opportunities in the future.

797. Has the library thought about staying open later? Say 10pm Monday- Thursday? The library should get a library pet! That would be so cool.
Thank you for your suggestions. We have considered extending hours – although we were considering staying open later Friday night or having longer hours on Sunday.
The idea of a library pet has also been considered, but with so many people being allergic to animals we decided having an animal here all the time was not a good idea. You will find that we do have animals visit on occasion as part of our various programs. And we plan to hatch some chicks this spring.

January 2019 Suggestions

787. Thank you with everything, you are the best place in Glen Ellyn! Thank you for helping us on the computers. The book I got was so cool. So, hope you have a good day. Bye.
Thank you for the lovely compliments!!

788. I love the sewing machine!!!! And Balloons on ribbon cutting day! Maybe have balloons every day? We can make the library even more amazing!
Thank you, we are happy to hear you attended the ribbon cutting and have noticed some of the new equipment we have added to our circulating collection.

789. This library is a great place! This is one of my favorite places on earth. The staff is so nice, and I spend hours here! Keep doing great!
We are glad you enjoy spending time here!

790. Love the typewriter display- great idea!
So happy to know you enjoyed the display!

791. Enjoyable library, please purchase screen protectors with glare protection for privacy. Also, mandatory to put in an automatic air filter mechanism and once a week furniture deep cleaning. Healthy atmosphere matters! Thank you very much!
We are glad you enjoy the library! We do have an air filter mechanism in our air handling system and the filters are changed regularly. We have the carpets cleaned regularly by an outside firm and our maintenance staff spot clean carpets as needed. We have the restrooms professionally cleaned every night and sanitized once a month. Maintenance staff clean tables regularly and chairs on a rotating basis.