Chicago Public Library-Blackstone Branch

Nice place. A little restricted in space. Great Wifi fee of charge. I was not able to find any water to drink…

I became a member of the library as soon as I move to Chicago. It’s great that you can use passes to the local museums. I think that the architecture is nice and staff are friendly. However it’s not too quiet. At times you may want an item and it can not be located. Overall I would recommend the place.

You need to check out this library for the architecture alone. The (GIANT!) fiction section is up a set of old-​fashioned wrought-​iron stairs and the floor is glass block. And as I said, the fiction section is giant. The librarians are polite and helpful, but they are clearly understaffed so there is usually some wait-​time at check-​out. But it’s not like you don’t have something to read while you wait, right?

This is such a nice neighborhood library. You can tell that this library is a popular fixture among residents (young and old) in the community, and the architecture is a real treat to experience. My only two complaints are that I wished the lines moved quicker and maybe the check-​out desks and computers were placed further away from the front door to avoid all the congestion. For such a small space, it definitely has a lot of materials and events going on. If you don’t find what you need among the stacks, the hold option online is pretty quick…maybe 4 days.

beautiful bldg –helpful staff-​always find current reads

I have all of my books sent to the Blackstone Library because my children attend school in Hyde Park.
I love the fact that I can always get street parking, it is easy to drop off books in the overnight box, I can walk right in and locate the books I’ve ordered.
One of my favorite things about this location is that the librarians know the kids and security doesn’t play with the kids so kids get out of line and they will not let you hang out here.

The building is nice enough, and you can find all the relevant sections more easily than you can in some north side branches I’ve been to. However, some of the folks who work here seem to have trouble checking in my books. This isn’t speculation, there have been at least two instances where I handed my book in IN PERSON and three days later, it’s still showing up on my online account (for once I’m glad I check this stuff obsessively). I went in to ask someone about it, and after spending 30 seconds or so looking absolutely clueless, he went ahead and just marked on my account that it was turned in. I’ve seen one of those books on the shelf later on but not so sure about the other one.
To be fair, this isn’t the only location where this has happened… okay, actually that’s just more depressing. I will point out that this never happened in Southern California, and our libraries are hardly shining beacons of knowledge and learning. What gives?

Check-​out staff is SUPER unfriendly! Seems they are doing you a favor by even looking at you.

One of the most beautiful branches in the city it has a wonderful children’s area and adult area well. The staff are very friendly and the librarians go out of there way to help you.

I used to hate to come to this library when I was a kid because all that was in the Blackstone… was Blackstones. Plus the library ladies used to be mean as hell, yelling at all the unsupervised bad-​ass little kids in the children’s section.
Coming back as an adult, the library appears completely transformed… The atmosphere is no longer ghetto-​gray, and now one is aware of the Blackstone Library in all its glorious detail: The murals, the ornate bookshelves, the decorative brass fixtures.
I find myself happy to wait patiently in a long line behind parents and their little ones (mostly black but also white and Chinese) who stand already reading their colorful children’s books with the impatient eagerness of Christmas morning, gradually inching towards the stern clerks who will scan the books with gravitas, as if they were in some glorious scene out of Dickens…
These clerks turn out to be quite helpful. I need to find on online literary journal, and the librarians are nowhere to be found. After searching high and low, they turn one of them up, who also turns out to be quite helpful, patiently and painstakingly walking through the multiple steps required to find the article I need, and then just as carefully writing them down.
All kinds of people come here, from all walks of life, to quietly read or use the computer. The people using the computers are respectful of each others’ time and property. I really enjoyed the experience.

Easily 5 stars, it’s sad that more Chicagoians haven’t visited this star of library branches at least once. Go to admire the beauty of this place, and to admire its unique second floor w/​an opaque glass floor, it’s domed area, or the elegant-​looking bookshelves, and anything else I know I’ve forgotten. :)
Selection is above-​average too for a branch library, from what I noticed of its book selection. And a final note: this branch is not very easily noticeable, due to the fact its hidden behind a parking garage off of 49^th Street, and is located just to the west of Lake Park Ave. But IMHO, it’s worth making the trek to at least once.

I understand that this was the first branch library of the Chicago system. It certainly is a lovely old building. I use it simply for checking out books, not internet or events. The collection is limited (I haven’t visited other branches for comparison), but you can always request books from other libraries. Anyway, it’s a lovely place, although it’s seen better days.

Really nice and really clean. Have a wonderful children’s area. Some of the workers may not be to friendly

Really cool old library in Hyde Park, with a fine selection of titles. Upper level stacks has a really neat opaque glass floor that is really cool to walk on. Has a large children’s department and a nice reference area with magazines, computers and internet access. Wonderful place to go when you want to get out of your house and do something relaxing but worthwhile.

This library has a decent selection of books and is fairly large. There are a lot of computers that you can get on the Internet with which is nice. From what I hear this is one of the oldest library branches in Chicago.