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A rendering of the new Altgeld Gardens branch of the Chicago Public Library. (Credit: Koo LLC)

The new $7.5 million Chicago Public Library branch in Altgeld Gardens will open from 1-5 p.m. on Sundays starting April 18 along with branches in Mount Greenwood, South Shore, Back of the Yards, Chinatown, Merlo, Edgewater, Independence, Richard M. Daley and Austin, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced.

(WTTW News)

If the mayor insists on keeping the libraries open, employees should be eligible for the vaccine along with teachers and other front-line essential workers, union leaders, employees and aldermen said.

(Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash)
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“Many employees have told us they do not feel safe, nor do they feel the branches are safe for patrons, given the city's current positivity rate,” said Anders Lindall, a spokesman for AFSCME Council 31, which represents about 900 library employees.

(Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to eliminate library fines in order to coax patrons back to the Chicago Public Library has paid off in spades, aldermen heard Wednesday.

(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

The latest selection for the citywide reading program is “Exit West” by Moshin Hamid. Events and discussions will be centered around the theme of “Beyond Borders.”

(Smart Chicago Collaborative / Flickr)
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Chicago Public Library branches are reopened as of Monday, but patrons will experience a few new restrictions. 

(Smart Chicago Collaborative / Flickr)

Employees of the Chicago Public Library will head back to work on Wednesday, but Mayor Lori Lightfoot tossed cold water on Library Commissioner Andrea Telli’s suggestion that libraries could reopen as soon as June 1.

(Smart Chicago Collaborative / Flickr)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the closure of the citys public libraries and parks as of 5 p.m. Saturday.

The latest selection for the citywide reading program is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book from New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert, who joins us in discussion.

(Roman Boed / Flickr)

Author Dan Egan had sobering words for Chicagoans at a One Book, One Chicago event this week.

This illustration released on May 3, 2017 by the Obama Foundation shows plans for the proposed Obama Presidential Center with a museum, rear, in Jackson Park on Chicago's South Side. (Obama Foundation via AP, File)

The 5,000-square-foot public library will house multimedia collections, have community programs, a children’s area and offer space for reading and studying.

Independence Branch Library (Facebook photo / Credit: Zuno Photography)

Chicago is using the resources of public libraries to address the need for mixed-income housing. Chicago Public Library Commissioner and CEO Brian Bannon explains.

Harold Washington Library Center (Daniel X. O'Neil / Flickr)

Chicago libraries serve “a multitude of community functions” and should be open longer, says Kang Chiu of the Chicago Coalition of Library Friends.

Mavis Staples (Ben Houdijk / Flickr)

We revisit a 2014  “Chicago Tonight” interview with Greg Kot, author of the book “I’ll Take You There: Mavis Staples, The Staple Singers, and the March Up Freedom’s Highway.” 

(Smart Chicago Collaborative's photostream / Flickr)

A plan to develop affordable housing units under the same roof as public libraries moved forward Wednesday, when Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the winning architects and developers for each of the three projects.

Barbara Kingsolver’s book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” helped launch a new, healthier food movement a decade ago. We speak with the author about the recent “One Book, One Chicago” selection.