More Than Just Books – How the HAPL is amplifying local voices
By Aris Sherwood, Head of Marketing
Cheerful music plays as you press ‘play’ on a video posted by the Huntley Area Public Library on September 4, 2024. The library’s logo appears, and then the words “Introducing the Recording Studio.” Various scenes flash across the screen of library staff members speaking into microphones, playing a guitar, and standing behind a computer screen with sophisticated technology.
The video, created by Digital Origins Productions, Inc, a local production company in Huntley, was made for the official launch of the Huntley Area Public Library’s highly anticipated Recording Studio.
The Recording Studio was a part of the library’s rebuilding project after winning a referendum in 2019.
“The inspiration for the Recording Studio was that I saw a good asset that couldbe used for a great many things,” said Frank Novak, Director of the Huntley Area Public Library. “Ranging from podcasting, to recording music, and filming commercials. There was no space around where people could do that… and I thought ‘that would be a really cool thing for a library to have.”
Novak said he wanted to make sure that the recording studio was as professional as possible. He spent time with the architects of the new library building, bringing in consultants and looking at other studios to gather information on different equipment, arrangements, layout, and spacing.
The finalization of the Recording Studio noticeably took a little bit of time, far past the time the whole library reopened after the building project back in 2022. According to Novak, they wanted to prioritize showing off the Children’s Library, which, in his opinion, was the main priority with the referendum.
“We were trying to find the right fit, the right equipment, making sure that we had everything set up properly, getting someone in there who knew what they would be doing in that space,” said Novak.
Joe Klaw, the library’s Recording Studio Technician, came in to help set up the Recording Studio in the summer of 2024, after years of working as a video editor in Chicago.
“In the last video editing job I had, one of the producers there knew the Head of IT here, Kevin [Stringer],” said Klaw, who wanted to shift his focus in his career from video editing to audio, being a musician himself. “[The producer] mentioned my name to Kevin, and then Kevin called me. I came in and helped get things set up and running. That took a couple of days, and then after a little
while, I got a call from Kevin asking if I would like to apply for the position of Recording Studio Technician.”
Klaw’s duties as Recording Studio technician include corresponding with patrons who are interested in using the recording studio, scheduling studio usage, setting up the space depending on what the project is, making sure all audio and visual elements are organized and ready for recording, hitting the record button, and sending over files for patrons to edit themselves.
The studio itself is ideal for all sorts of users, from aspiring musicians and podcasters, to filming funny promo videos for their job. It is equipped with a full green-screen wall, high-quality cameras and microphones, speakers, lighting, tripods, and more.
“When I first saw the library’s studio, I’m like ‘boy, this is pretty fancy for a library.’” said Klaw. “I didn’t even know a library would do that kind of thing. You know, poking around on the internet, looking at other libraries, they really just have maybe a microphone and a computer in a room. I think what’s nice about this library is that it’s staffed, and I help you. I help you record, set up mics… we talk about what you want to do, and I record it.”
Since its official launch, the Recording Studio has seen many faces utilize the space, including Superintendent Jessica Lombard, who hosts the Huntley Community School District 158’s podcast ‘Raiders Roundtable,’ and Ron Giordano, who hosts ‘Around Town’ through the Huntley Community Radio.
And though the studio has already been successful so far, Klaw does have some hopes for it in the future.
“I think a nice, versatile keyboard instrument would be good for that room,” said Klaw. “It would be good to have someone else who knew how to run it, in case I’m not around. But other than that, you know, it’s all good.”
This story was featured in the March-April 2025 issue of our official HAPL newsletter ‘The Whole Story.’ Read The Whole Story Newsletter here.
