Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago Public Library - part 4

I did promise/threaten I had more photos I hadn't shared yet. And no, they didn't magically focus since the last batch, darn it. So you get fuzzy storage areas where the library keeps extra chairs and apparently unused microform readers. There were a lot of microform readers back there!

There were a lot of displays all over the library, like mini-museums. There was this...

...and this, which was a separate photo gallery, if I recall correctly.

And what a makerspace lab! With a sewing machine and...whatever that thing next to it is, and the whatever it is past that!











Oh yeah, it was a vinyl sticker maker! I guess there is an audience out there for makerspaces, and it is a good thing when libraries make technology available that is outside the price range of individuals...but I also worry for libraries that might think "my circ stats are low -- but a vinyl sticker maker will get them back in the door!"

It's remarkable the things people can make with a 3D printer. Besides being the coolest paperweight ever, I suppose there is a practical use for this, bringing replicas of fossils to people who would never get to see the real fossils in person.

Here's where the real magic happens, because it's okay to have your fancy-schmancy 3D printers and your vinyl sticker makers, but if you're not promoting them with programming, you're never going to see them get used. So it's good to see CPL has a healthy amount of programming, prominently advertised in the makerspace lab.

I don't even remember where this was in the library, but I like how important government information is prominently displayed.

And I'll end this post on a sad note, or at least I thought it was sad to see how many shelves were empty in the suburban newspaper section. I think every library should carry, not only their home town's newspaper, but the paper of every surrounding community as well. It would be great if CPL could archive all of them from the collar counties, but maybe that's just not a feasible wish.