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Old 10-20-2012, 09:57 PM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,619 posts, read 8,170,326 times
Reputation: 6321

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Quote:
Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot View Post
But do i have to call in advance?
Harold Washington is a public library and should have what you need. It's the only downtown public one worth considering for any serious research.

Newberry is more specialized. Read about them and if you think they'll have what you need for your research call to find out about getting access.
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Old 10-21-2012, 09:09 AM
 
Location: CHICAGO, Illinois
934 posts, read 1,441,390 times
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The Harold Washington is a beautiful library. I love the Winter Garden on the 9th floor. What surprised me is the building isn't that old, yet it looks like something from the 1920s-1930s, maybe even older.
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Old 10-21-2012, 09:15 AM
 
Location: River North, Chicago, Illinois
4,619 posts, read 8,170,326 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thefallensrvnge View Post
The Harold Washington is a beautiful library. I love the Winter Garden on the 9th floor. What surprised me is the building isn't that old, yet it looks like something from the 1920s-1930s, maybe even older.
Yeah, that's because it was mostly championed by the Union League Club, which is a generous and civic-minded but somewhat stodgy city club that prefers tradition to progressiveness in many things.
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Old 10-21-2012, 09:52 AM
 
1,946 posts, read 7,374,648 times
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Harold Washington is the largest library in the country! A very cool place.
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Old 10-21-2012, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,923,075 times
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Half unrelated, but Newberry Library also has a massive book sale/fair on the last weekend of July every year.
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Old 10-21-2012, 01:48 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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Default Shockingly small amount of public reading space...

Quote:
Originally Posted by oldhousegirl View Post
Harold Washington is the largest library in the country! A very cool place.
There are very few places to actually read / work. Check out some of these spaces: The 35 Most Amazing Libraries In The World

Count of volumes is a pretty standard measure, other cities with small populations do far better in comparison: List of the largest libraries in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not well loved by the architecture community: Harold Washington Library One of World’s Ugliest Buildings? « The Chicago Art Blog
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Old 10-21-2012, 05:25 PM
 
Location: Beautiful and sanitary DC
2,504 posts, read 3,543,241 times
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I always found that, especially on HWLC's upper floors, there were always desks to be found around the edges of the building. The winter garden is usually used for events, so they don't always leave many tables & chairs out.

The old Chicago Public Library is now called the Cultural Center, and you'll still find lots of quiet spaces there but few books.

The Newberry is a private reference library, and they have stringent security -- you must store bags in a locker and sign in each time. Still, it's a beautiful and quiet space, and anyone with a current ID can obtain a reader card.

For a publicly accessible research library near the Loop, your best bet is probably UIC's Richard J. Daley library. It's just south of the tall tower on UIC's campus, about a mile southwest of the Loop.
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Old 10-22-2012, 08:17 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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Default Have not been in a few years, but I remember lack of light in UIC's library was creepy...

I like the being able to grab a rare window with southern exposure at Harold Washington.

UIC lighting plan reminded me of "Blade Runner" -- the exposed concrete sucks up light and the weak fluorescents make everything look like post apocalyptic movie set...


Quote:
Originally Posted by paytonc View Post
I always found that, especially on HWLC's upper floors, there were always desks to be found around the edges of the building. The winter garden is usually used for events, so they don't always leave many tables & chairs out.

The old Chicago Public Library is now called the Cultural Center, and you'll still find lots of quiet spaces there but few books.

The Newberry is a private reference library, and they have stringent security -- you must store bags in a locker and sign in each time. Still, it's a beautiful and quiet space, and anyone with a current ID can obtain a reader card.

For a publicly accessible research library near the Loop, your best bet is probably UIC's Richard J. Daley library. It's just south of the tall tower on UIC's campus, about a mile southwest of the Loop.
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Old 10-22-2012, 11:41 PM
 
Location: Beautiful and sanitary DC
2,504 posts, read 3,543,241 times
Reputation: 3280
Yeah, the entirety of UIC feels like one giant concrete bunker. Even the high-rise offices are dim and fluorescent feeling, since the windows are darkly tinted.

That said, it's a substantial academic library that's open to the public, and our OP has "to write a research paper and actually use sources other than the internet." HWLC has pretty good collections for a municipal library, but within one mile UIC and Newberry offer vastly superior collections. (The Newberry's is particularly splendid in its focus areas.)
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Old 10-23-2012, 12:44 AM
 
Location: Cleveland, OH USA / formerly Chicago for 20 years
4,069 posts, read 7,317,864 times
Reputation: 3062
Quote:
Originally Posted by thefallensrvnge View Post
The Harold Washington is a beautiful library. I love the Winter Garden on the 9th floor. What surprised me is the building isn't that old, yet it looks like something from the 1920s-1930s, maybe even older.
Yes, when I first moved to Chicago I assumed HWLC was a historic building. I was very surprised to learn that it was built in the 1990s.
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