CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARIES

One of the best things about having a Chicago address is the free Chicago Public Library (CPL) card that comes with it. Its holder is welcome to walk into any of 81 different buildings anchoring all 77 city neighborhoods and have access to the riches of the fifth largest public library system in the United States.

A standout in information resources, the Chicago Public Library is consistently ranked in the top ten for large public library systems nationwide. A more recent evaluation by The Storage Space on CubeSmart put CPL ninth best for “advancing culture and knowledge” while “reflecting the heart and soul of the city” through initiatives such as its lecture series and free homework help. The Windy City’s libraries were also nationally recognized in 2019 as the largest public library system in the country to make the radical move to eliminate fines for overdue items. In expanding Chicago’s mission as a Sanctuary City, CPL established “Book Sanctuaries” across the city’s 77 distinct community areas in September, 2022 to guarantee its citizens access to books that had been banned or challenged in other areas of the state or country.

To view rare historical and cultural archival collections as well as to use special equipment such as 3-D printers, Chicagoans head to CPL’s central facility, the Harold Washington Library Center at 400 S. State Street. Built in 1991, the ten-story postmodern structure features a so-Chicago classical façade of stone medallions with barn owl ornamentation. At first derided as a mishmash of styles, the building’s architectural beauty is now widely admired. Indeed, curbed.com recently ranked the Harold Washington 12th in the U.S. for its stunning design, not the least of which is its top floor Winter Garden with spectacular glass walls throwing natural light on its contemplating patrons.

The Harold Washington Library Center at 400 S. State Street downtown. Built in 1991 as CPL’s new central facility, the postmodern building’s architecture combines old world as well as contemporary touches. Once widely criticized, the building is widely recognized today for its beauty and functionality. Harold Washington holds extensive map, microfilm, and other specialized collections unavailable elsewhere. Photo courtesy of Chicago Public Library.

Three regional libraries (Henry E. Legler, 115 S. Pulaski; Carter G. Woodson, 9525 S. Halsted; and Conrad Sulzer, 4455 N. Lincoln) hold targeted collections for different areas of the city. Legler, the system’s first regional library, is in a historical landmarked building serving the West and East Garfield Park neighborhoods. It was named after Legler in honor of his ground-breaking efforts to promote the expansion of CPL offerings to peoples in all neighborhoods through branch libraries, according to the Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Woodson, opened in 1975 and expanded in 1998, serves the Washington Heights and South Side neighborhoods with the largest collection of African American history and literature in the Midwest. Sulzer, the newest regional at 4455 N. Lincoln, opened in 1985 to serve the Lincoln Square and North Side neighborhoods. It holds a special Northside Neighborhood History Collection.

As Chicagoans, residents of Gladstone Park can patronize any of the 81 libraries in the Chicago Public Library system, but most Gladstonians go to the Jefferson Park Branch, 5363 W. Lawrence, in the larger Jefferson Park neighborhood to the south of their community. The library also draws residents from nearby sections of Portage Park, Forest Glen, and Norwood Park. Dating back to 1904, the Jefferson Park branch had been housed in nearly a dozen different locations before taking up permanent residency at its current location in the commercial center of the neighborhood in 1970. Because the 50-year-old building needed such an extensive renovation in 2019, it was temporarily closed for nearly a year before reopening in 2020.

Befitting the community, the Jeff Park Library offers a specialized collection of Polish language magazines, newspapers and books (check out Harry Potter i kamień filozoficzny) along with regular story time hours, access to computers/WiFi and homework help programs.

Chicago Public Library–Jefferson Park Branch, 5363 W. Lawrence, in the heart of Jefferson Park’s commercial district, serves the greater Jefferson Park neighborhood which includes Gladstone Park. The recently renovated building hosts a special collection of Polish language periodicals and books for the large population of immigrants from Poland who live in the immediate area. Photo courtesy of Chicago Public Library through its branch locational page.

Some Gladstonians who live on the community’s northern border with Edgebrook frequent the Edgebrook Public Library at 5331 W. Devon. For some patrons, this location is slightly more than a half mile walk across Metro North’s railroad tracks just north of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. The two-story structure opened in 2000.

Chicago Public Library–Edgebrook Branch, 5331 W. Devon, is in the heart of Edgebrook’s commercial district to Gladstone Park’s north across the Metro North Railroad tracks and the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Many Gladstonians living adjacent to the Edgebrook neighborhood started frequenting this branch after it opened in 2000. Photo courtesy of Chicago Public Library through its branch locational page.

In July, 2021 Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the city would be adding Sunday afternoon hours at all Chicago Public Library buildings by the end of the year, making all the facilities in the system accessible to everyone on a daily basis regardless of their work or religious obligations.

Chicagoans who can afford to further empower the city’s public library donate to the nonprofit Chicago Library Foundation, which partners with CPL to “drive equitable access to learning, creativity, and digital literacy resources.”

To foster a love for books and all things reading, Gladstonians have erected five Little Free Libraries around the neighborhood. The fun of the initiative is that any individual or group of neighbors can make a Little Free Library in any kind of a design or color they want. In Gladstone Park there are purple, green, and blue house-like designs; one that appears to be an old newspaper box; and another decorated with the four stars of the Chicago flag. They are located next to sidewalks on people’s front lawns, on parkways or corners, and even in neighborhood parks. Offerings range from picture books to chapter books to young adult fiction to romance novels to spy thrillers.These grassroots efforts to support the “take a book, leave a book” movement are pictured with locations given below.

Of the five Little Free Libraries in the community, four have been registered with the national organization of the same name. Started in 2009 by a Wisconsin man who stuffed a hand-built miniature schoolhouse with donated books and mounted it on a post in his front yard for any and all takers to enjoy, the Little Free Libraries has always been a grassroots movement. There are now more than 25,000 of these little libraries throughout the the country and the organization has received awards from the National Book Foundation, the American Library Association and the Library of Congress. Not just tolerated in Chicago, Little Free Libraries are supported by the city as a means for promoting literacy and community.

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