When Candace D’Agnolo moved to Galesburg in 2020, she didn’t arrive with a long history in the community.
In fact, she and her husband ended up here somewhat unexpectedly.
After spending 25 years in Chicago building businesses in the pet industry, including dog daycares, pet boutiques, and dog walking companies, the couple was looking for a slower pace of life and a place closer to family in Central Illinois.
Then a lake house near Galesburg appeared online.
“We saw it the next day and put an offer on it. We didn’t really know a lot about Galesburg.”
What started with a house quickly turned into something more.
“We fell in love with everything else,” she said.
Now, five years later, Candace is deeply invested in the community, not only personally, but professionally through her downtown business, Dante & Dory’s Pet Emporium.
And throughout that process, the library became one of the spaces that quietly helped support the work behind the scenes.
Building a Business, Again
Candace started her first company when she was just 24 years old.
What she thought would become a corporate career quickly shifted after realizing that traditional office life wasn’t for her.
“I thought I’d want to work in corporate America, but realized sitting in a cubicle and staring at spreadsheets all day wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
Instead, she built businesses centered around pets, customer relationships, and community.
When she and her husband purchased the large building at Main and Seminary in downtown Galesburg, the original vision wasn’t necessarily to open another business themselves.
At first, the idea was to renovate the space and create opportunities for multiple small businesses downtown.
But plans changed.
Construction realities, shifting priorities, and eventually the closure announcement of Pet Supplies Plus created an unexpected opening.
Candace recognized both the opportunity, and the need.
“Here we have the building. We have 25 years of experience. We have a team of people that could come over and work.”
That realization ultimately led to the launch of Dante & Dory’s Pet Emporium.
Bringing the Team Together
Before the store ever opened, there was still a long process ahead: business plans, financing, construction, training, and building a team.
Candace knew she wanted to keep the future staff connected and engaged during those early months.
That’s when the library became part of the process.
“I needed a space that we could leverage but didn’t cost money because I wasn’t generating any revenue from this business yet.”
The library’s meeting rooms became a temporary headquarters of sorts.
There, the team gathered around laptops and whiteboards to talk through policies, products, customer experience, and the vision for the store they hoped to build together.
“We sat around and talked about what our return policy would look like, what our loyalty program would look like.”
The space gave them room to collaborate while the business itself was still taking shape.
Candace also appreciated how accessible and practical the space was.
“It was very easy to do.”
The team used the room’s monitor, Wi-Fi, and even checked out library laptops during meetings so presentations could be projected while everyone worked from their own computers.
For Candace, it became an important stepping stone in the journey toward opening the store.
“The space was an important stepping stone to Dante & Dory’s being open.”
Finding Community in Galesburg
One of the things Candace says she appreciates most about Galesburg is the ability to become involved and make an impact.
“It’s small enough that if you want to get involved in something, you can.”
That sense of accessibility and connection is part of what helped the community begin to feel like home.
And now, through her business downtown, she’s experienced firsthand how strongly people support local businesses and community investment.
“I think people actually do want to support small businesses.”
Since opening Dante & Dory’s, she says customers have responded enthusiastically, not just to the products and services, but to seeing the building filled and active again.
Experiencing the Library in a Different Way
These days, Candace’s visits to the library don’t always revolve around work.
Now, many of them involve her nearly three-year-old son.
The children’s area has become one of their regular stops, especially the play spaces and dollhouse corner.
“He loves the little dollhouse nook corner and playing with all those toys you have out.”
Like many parents, Candace has found that library visits with a young child can be unpredictable. Story time hasn’t always gone exactly as planned, but those moments have also helped her see the children’s area as a place where kids can explore, socialize, and learn how to be part of a shared space.
She especially values having a place that is easy to access no matter the season or weather.
“We can pop over, and there might be a couple kids in the area, so it’s a good opportunity for him to socialize in a very casual, relaxed way.”
A Space That Continues to Evolve
Over time, the library has served different purposes for Candace at different stages of life.
It’s been:
a workspace
a meeting place
a resource for technology and collaboration
and now, a place for family experiences and childhood memories
She also sees even more possibilities ahead, from eventually using the library’s podcasting studio to simply continuing to explore all the spaces the building offers.
“There’s so many things to do.”
For Candace, the library has become one of those places that adapts alongside the people who use it, offering what’s needed in that moment, whether that’s a meeting room, a laptop, a children’s play area, or simply a place to begin building something new.
