FOX LAKE — Inmates at the Fox Lake Correctional Institute recently were given a challenge by the Fox Lake Public Library.

The library needed a table that could accommodate wheelchairs, no matter the height of the chairs, so that patrons who use a wheelchair could use the Internet, look up resources on the data base catalog and make use of the newly acquired digital microform system.

Everything in the furniture and Americans with Disabilities Act catalogs was either too small or lightweight to accommodate the new system and serve all the needs.

Dan Zanon, head of the cabinet making program at FLCI, was contacted to see if inmates at the institution could create such a table.

Fox Lake Correctional Institution offers academic and vocational education in such areas as cabinet making, welding, auto mechanics and drafting.

 Jodine Deppisch, warden of the FLCI, is always glad to see projects that give the inmates an opportunity to give back to the community

Designing a table that would meet the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and serve the residents of Fox Lake who need a table that can be adjusted, was a chance for the vocational departments of FLCI to put their heads together. It became the project of building a prototype table and involved the cabinet-making department, the welding program, the auto mechanics program and satisfied the needs of vocational programming certified under Moraine Park Technical College.

 Everyone got in on the act as the sturdy, well-designed table began to take shape. It took about two months of work as the men studied catalogs of what was already available and began to envision how the table might work.

Zanon, instructor for the cabinet making program said, "A lot of inmates were really using their imaginations and knowledge to create just the table that was needed. We had a lot of different programs working on the end result. We are planning to let the Fox Lake Public Library use it for awhile before we make any changes to it. We will tweak it where needed and then we will build more. Since it is a prototype we are donating it to the library."

The table was delivered to the Fox Lake Public Library just in time for patron Dennis Wray to use it in conjunction with the research he is doing through the microfilm of old Fox Lake newspapers on the history of the local American Legion.

Wray said, "The new adjustable height table is extremely solid in construction. This means the problem of the sensitive microfilm reader going out of focus just from the vibration of a person walking past the previously-used table, is a thing of the past. The ability to change the table's height has made it easier to roll in my wheelchair and use the machine comfortably."

Although the prototype has been delivered, FLCI will make two more adjustable tables for the library. One table will be placed in the spot for the data catalog computer and one will be used for two of the four adult public computers for the Internet.

The tables will insure that citizens, no matter what their physical limitations are, can use all of the resources of the library.