image link (the rest of the pics in this post are mine)
Thursday, after lunch and visiting the art museum, we walked next door to Hackley Library. Hackley Library is one of the oldest buildings in town (1890.) Like the art museum, it was built by funds donated by lumber baron, Charles Hackley. Hackley funded several public buildings and at least one park from the fortune he made through cutting down trees in Michigan. It’s my understanding that a lot of the lumber went to rebuild Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The first pic is one of the internal archways on the main floor.
The next two are of the stained glass windows along the back wall of the main floor. Also shown is the very tall ceiling.
The next two pics are an information card of, and a shot of The Book of Kells “exact facsimile replicas” that the library has. It is my understanding that one page is turned each day. If you visited each day for a couple of years you’d be able to see the entire book.
In a little area off to the right on the main floor is an area I used to marvel at as a child. The wrought iron staircase that led up to … the glass-floored upper level! Climbing those stairs on Thursday and walking (carefully!) on the glass floor gave me the same thrill as it did when I was a kid.
I decided to grayscale that last shot of looking down onto the main floor through a window on the 2nd (glass) floor.
I was delighted to see both Dali and Ai Weiwei on the shelf upstairs. Also look at the carving on one of the shelves.
After we explored the main floor and the special glass-floored area, we walked back up towards the front of the building and walked up a curving staircase to the children’s section. This is where my kids and I made *frequent* visits when they were young. There was no limit to the # of books that could be checked out and we checked out dozens at a time. It was where I first discovered Roald Dahl and his book, “The Twits.” I just took a few pics, because within 5 minutes, because we were unaccompanied by a child, we were asked to leave. There was one woman sitting at a table with her small child but other than that the place was deserted. Why the librarian felt compelled to kick us out remains a mystery to me. I got a bit lippy with her and kind of feel bad about it, but not that bad. It’s like dayum woman it’s been 30 or more years since seeing the place and you had to spoil it with your robopathology (robopath is a term coined by Lewis Yablonsky in 1972 and those afflicted by it suffer from it.) Anyway… on to the pics.
Tao Talk 
That is so awesome! The library when I was a kid was nothing that majestic but we loved going there and it was a treat! When my kids were little we used to have a few favorites that were purchased and the kids didn’t show much interest in going and finding new ones. The saddest thing was when I was teaching Middle School kids and that school had NO library! They got rid of it for study space. I was appalled!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Christine, I cannot imagine any school without a library. Even prisons have libraries! Time to elect a new school board, one that thinks libraries are essential.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Right?!?!?! I only worked there for a year or so. I always had libraries in my classrooms. One year I actually got a DonorsChoose grant to get our clinical day program a library because it was a tiny program and we didn’t have one. We got a lot of books from that! The kids loved it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I admire the action you took to help remedy the situation. Here we have a bookmobile that travels around to locations, but all schools (afaik!) still have libraries.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A beautiful place to visit. Thanks for sharing Li
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked the tidbits I shared. My pleasure.
LikeLiked by 1 person
💜😍🧡
LikeLiked by 1 person
The stained glass windows and ceiling are beautiful!
Like the video also…that archway in back…
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is like standing in a work of art. I just don’t see new buildings with this care of design and material anymore.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And you won’t see them…I totally agree. This is special.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It looks like a magical place…but then all libraries are magical I find.
You can’t be in the children’s library because you’re not a child? That woman needs to read a few of the books in her care! What is she, the Grinch? (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kerfe, yes, they are. Good name for that woman. What a spoilsport she was. I didn’t mention the red globe up on the ceiling watching also. When I noticed it just after she left, I saluted it with the double eagles. Libraries are sacred spaces that are under increasing attack :(
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are on both counts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely library. Makes me want to give y’all the tour of the Mount Royal one. It’s a beauty of a place…
And why kick you out? Hmmm…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dale, I have an idea our library would be but a pimple on the azz of your Mount Royal one. We’re small potatoes for historical architecture and just culture generally around here :(
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, I don’t know. But I shall take a tour soon. I will be looking into its history :)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dale, PLEASE TAKE PICS!!!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well duh! ;-)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fascinating place! I could spend hours, days in there. I wonder what it’s like after dark? 👻
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, it is! There is a “hidden” bathroom with a back stairway (if you know where to look) and a microfiche and family ancestry section in the basement (or used to be, not sure now.) I never got any ghost vibes in the place, so probably ok at night. The Hackley House, about 3 blocks away, though, is another story. I heard shrieks coming out of it one night when my friend and I were walking by it. No joke!
LikeLiked by 1 person