It's been nearly a year and a half of closed doors for Chicago's LGBT library, but the Gerber/Hart Library and Archives board is hoping to reopen the space before year's end.
Board Member Carrie Barnett told Windy City Times that the organization is aiming for a December reopening.
The library moved locations in May 2012 and has remained closed while construction on its new space is finished. The anticipated reopening has been repeatedly pushed back.
"Without saying we're absolutely going to be open in December, I will tell you that our goal is to have an open house and community meeting in the space sometime in the very beginning of December," said Barnett. "If for some unforeseen reason, we are still not open then, we will still have a community meeting."
The library briefly unlocked doors for a community open house in June. President Brad Tucker had forecasted a reopening shortly after.
Barnett said that the library is waiting on an occupancy permit from the city before it can open. She added that volunteer recruitment and training has been slowed by the lack of a permit.
The library has long been a community institution, at least in part because it oversees an extensive LGBT archive. It has been ensnared in controversy since before its move as some alleged that it had shut out community access.
In July, Windy City Times reported that former President Karen Sendziak, who stepped down amid last year's controversy of the organization's governance, was overseeing the archive.
Barnett, however, said that most of the library's archived have been installed in the library and remain in the care of the board as a whole.
"It's all safely contained and ready to be processed," said Barnett. "The main archives are in the location in a secure room, and there are some additional items in a storage facility."
Sendziak remains a volunteer, Barnett confirmed.
Barnett, a former Gerber/Hart president who joined the board after last year's fallout, said she was unable to talk about specifics of the lease due to confidentiality agreements with the landlord. She said, however, that the organization is financially sound and is working to rebuild community participation.
"I just want to express how important it is to me and to the members of the board to re-establish trust because I think there has been a great loss of trust," said Barnett. "We're looking to recreate that and have more transparency, have more opportunities for people to be involved, to recommit ourselves to service to the community."