When you read the book of a deceased author, you are essentially listening to the words of the dead. Unless a book is extremely rare, the thoughts of a dead author are usually heard by many people. However, if an old book has a personal inscription inside of it, then that dead person’s words may…
Tag: Library
Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College
One of the largest C.S. Lewis collections in the world is located at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois (located about an hour west of Chicago). This collection officially began in 1965 when a Wheaton College English professor, Dr. Clyde S. Kilby, proposed that the College create one. The collection started out with fifteen letters of…
State Libraries
Each of the United States’ 50 states runs its own official state library. I have only visited Illinois’ and Indiana’s state libraries so far. Both are located in their states’ capitals, which are Springfield and Indianapolis, respectively. You would assume that all state libraries are similar, but Illinois’ and Indiana’s state libraries each have separate…
Pritzker Military Museum and Library
On the corners of Monroe St. and Michigan Ave. in Downtown Chicago is a skyscraper built in 1912 called the Monroe Building. The second through fourth floors of this building house the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. Founded in 2003, this non-profit research center began as the personal military collection of retired Lieutenant Colonel J….
Newberry Library
Although the Chicago Public Library was founded in 1873, two years after the Great Chicago Fire, a wealthy Chicagoan named Walter L. Newberry decided to leave $2.2 million dollars upon his death to fund another free public library in Chicago. That led to the creation of the Newberry Library in 1887. This is not to…
Poetry Foundation Library
Although public libraries are obviously the most popular types of libraries, there are so many other types of unique libraries that exist. Many of these are research libraries, which do not allow you to take their materials home, but do allow you to use their materials while inside the library. The Poetry Foundation Library in…
Northwestern’s University and Deering Libraries
Founded in 1851 in Evanston, Illinois (a Chicago suburb), Northwestern University ranks among the top universities in the United States. In the tradition of all great universities, Northwestern has an amazing library system of over six million electronic and print resources. The main library building, University Library, was built in 1970, although it is connected…
Polish Museum of America
If you live in Chicago, you may have heard people say that Chicago has the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw, Poland. Chicago’s radio station, WBEZ, investigated this claim in 2015. Although it is not completely true, there are elements of truth to it. According to WEBZ, the largest Polish populations outside of Poland can…
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Although the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, was born in the state of Kentucky, Illinois is commonly called the “Land of Lincoln.” In fact, even the Illinois license plate has this phrase on it, as well as a depiction of Lincoln’s head. This is because Lincoln lived in Illinois longer than he…
University of Saint Mary of the Lake’s Feehan Memorial Library
One of the most beautiful libraries that I have ever visited was the Feehan Memorial Library at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois (about an hour’s drive north of Chicago). Built in 1929, and inspired by sixteenth-century Italian palaces, the architecture of the library may not be the most practical,…
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