Our local history collection is in our local history/genealogy room, located on the bottom level of the Streamwood location (1405 S Park Avenue). The items located in this room include genealogy books, village board minutes for Streamwood and Hanover Park, village budgets, community newsletters, library newsletters, maps, and many more documents. The room also functions as a quiet study room. Please use our catalog at pclib.org or ask a librarian for assistance in finding any non-digital items in our collection. Some materials, depending on their fragility or age, may not be checked out. You can email us at history@pclib.org or call us at (331) 808-3535.
We do not have a microfilm reader.
Genealogy events at the library generally occur on the last Monday of the month. Please see the library calendar for details.
Our records
The original Streamwood Village Library was created after a successful referendum in 1966. On March 18, 1967 the Streamwood Village Library opened its doors in the Hillside Shopping Center at 20 Streamwood Blvd. Marlene Deuel served as the Head Librarian from 1967-1988. Originally located in a storefront, the Streamwood Village Library increased to four storefronts between the years of 1969 and 1975 and increased the number of hours it was open to 66 hours per week. On June 22, 1971 a library district was formed and in June of 1973, the Poplar Creek Public Library District boundaries became official: most of Streamwood, 2/3 of Hanover Park, and portions of Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Schaumburg and Bloomingdale.
One year later, construction began for a new building located at 1405 S. Park Avenue, which opened on June 1, 1978. Pat Hogan followed Marlene Deuel with the title Administrative Librarian from 1989-2015. In 1980, the Library became a government depository for federal and state documents.
In 1991, it was determined that a branch was needed to better meet the needs of Hanover Park residents and a modular unit became the Hanover Park Branch. In 2006, it was renamed the Sonya Crawshaw Branch in honor of the late President of Hanover Park, and in 2013 and 2015 the Branch was renovated to provide for a larger collection and computer usage.
In 1994, the Library purchased a home adjacent to the Park Avenue main library facility to use for storage. This home was later razed and an addition was added to the building, as well as needed parking. In 2009, the main library facility reopened after a referendum and remodeling project that more than doubled the size, with a beautiful new addition making the building approximately 98,000 square feet. The new building was featured in Library Journal as one of the first libraries to win an architectural award. Debra Stombres became the third head librarian when she became the Executive Director in March of 2016. Jose Maldonado became the fourth head librarian when he became Executive Director in October 2024 after Debra Stombres retired.