A $5.9 million transformation of the library on the Des Plaines campus of Oakton College into a learning commons opened to students Tuesday, providing more inviting study spaces, collaboration rooms and a one-stop hub for academic support services.
The Des Plaines Campus Learning Commons, at 1600 Golf Road in Des Plaines, brings together library services, tutoring, student services, technology support and access to Oakton’s extensive historical archives into a single shared space.
Seating upgrades were part of the multi-million dollar renovation of the library on the Des Plaines campus of Oakton College in Des Plaines. The newly renovated library commons opened Jan. 20, 2026. (James C. Svehla/for Pioneer Press)
Addition of collaborative and study spaces were part of the multi-million dollar renovation of the library on the Des Plaines campus of Oakton College in Des Plaines. The newly renovated library commons opened Jan. 20, 2026. (James C. Svehla/for Pioneer Press)
“The learning doesn’t just happen in the classroom,” Jacob Jeremiah, dean of the library, told Pioneer Press. “This is a space built on a new, dynamic learning environment that’s built on collaboration.”
Oakton opened a similar space — the Ray Hartstein Campus Learning Commons in Skokie – in August 2024.
Oakton College enrolls some 18,500 students who live in 17 surrounding north and northwest suburbs, including Niles, Morton Grove, Lincolnwood and Park Ridge.
The learning commons on the Des Plaines campus has been nine years in the making, Jeremiah said. He had suggested to library leaders that walls separating the library from crucial service partners be broken down as part of the renovation of a space that had not been updated in 30 years.
“When it came time to think about the space being renovated, it made more sense to combine all of those services in one location,” Jeremiah said.
Construction on the new learning commons began last March and officially opened to students Tuesday.
“When a student enters our front door, they’ll see the library circulation desk, our IT help desk if they need help with a device or login, another desk for the learning center to sign up for tutoring and TRIO is right there,” he said.
TRIO student services support first-generation college students, students with financial need and students with a documented physical or learning disability, according to information provided by college spokesperson Ewa Lyczewska.
The first floor also includes the Oakton Reading Room, several focus rooms, a huddle room for collaboration and tables featuring models of skeletons and more for the college’s extensive health curriculum, as well as staff offices and college archives.
“Now, we have a visible and open archive that I am most proud of,” Jeremiah said. “It’s the history of the college, history of the district, history of community colleges and athletic programs — amazing materials.”
The college was founded in 1969, and Jeremiah worked closely with architects to design the presentation of the archive materials, including board books in red bindings, like he said he has seen at the LBJ [Lyndon Baines Johnson] Presidential Library in Austin, Texas.
“It’s not just a library,” Jeremiah said of the new campus space, “it’s a lot of things, and we have things students have been asking for.”
The previous space had no dedicated study rooms, the dean said, while the new one has a large number and variety of study areas – which can be reserved for use – that include small focus rooms, single-person study pods that look like phone booths and larger collaboration rooms for groups of up to 14 students.
On the second floor, there is an open reading room space in front of a large bank of windows that overlooks the nearby forest preserve, as well as a fireplace surrounded by seating for studying and, Jeremiah says jokingly, “fireside talks.”
A large mural painting previously painted by an artist in the space was saved and reinstalled, he said, mounted higher with complementary lighting.
Functional, modern couches and chairs, along with study carrels and tables are throughout the renovated space.
“It’s a classy, calm and relaxing looking space with open seating,” Jeremiah said, describing the renovation as a 21st Century update. “If I was a student here, I would find a lot of areas to be comfortable.”
The second floor also features the library’s reference desk, the Adele Legere Math Lab, a library classroom along with additional focus and huddle rooms, pop-in pods, as well as staff offices and designated prayer/meditation and sensory rooms, according to Lyczewska.
The lower level is used by library staff for technical services and the college’s book collections that support the college’s curriculum – from literature to science to health careers – in addition to audio and e-books, DVDs and a variety of online databases.
“The library has a lot of resources and the library is a place that is still necessary,” Jeremiah said. “My dream now is when students come back, they’re not so [much] hanging out in the cafeteria but instead using our focus rooms.”
Jeremiah’s staff includes five full-time faculty librarians who are the primary reference librarians, 13 part-time faculty librarians who work at the reference desk and six full-time staffers in circulation and cataloging. He said he has prepared the team to service students, as well as offer library services to community members living in community college District 535.
The dean said he is also hopeful that students will take advantage of the staff resources now available to them in the new Des Plaines Learning Commons.
“Collaboration and working together are key concepts,” Jeremiah said. “The hope is students will see all of the different options and be able to work amongst themselves and work with the staff in the space. I’m also encouraging other faculty and administrators to think about how they can also use the learning commons. I’m quite proud of it.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
