Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed 2012 budget includes significant cuts for the Chicago Public Library system, including reduced hours of operation and 363 layoffs. more ›

Two Washington Park community groups are hoping to revive the Garfield Green Line stop, hoping to transform the historic station into a library and community center to serve Washington Park and the surrounding area. more ›

Parents in the Pilsen neighborhood have ended a stand-off with Chicago Public School officials that saw a 40 day sit-in at a fieldhouse that was condemned to be demolished. CPS officials originally intended to demolish the fieldhouse and replace it with a soccer field that nearby Cristo Rey Jesuit high school would use. more ›

The Chicago Public School System and the parents who've been protesting the proposed razing of the Whittier Elementary School fieldhouse in Pilsen have agreed in principle to a deal that could end the sit-in. more ›

The sit-in at Pilsen's Whittier Elementary appears to be reaching its endgame. Chicago Public Schools agreed to lease the fieldhouse where parents have staged a sit-in for over a month to a non-profit community group for $1, who would convert the fieldhouse into a library for Whittier that's the focus of the sit-in. CPS CEO Ron Huberman said the agreement "is a good-faith effort to continue the work we have completed on behalf of Whittier students." more ›

As the sit-in at Whittier Elementary School in Pilsen continues, Gapers Block's Cinnamon Cooper got the chance to sit down with some of the children involved in the protest, students of Whittier directly affected by the plans and the protest. It's a different angle in the ongoing, developing story that hasn't been addressed until now. Check it out here. more ›

• Three men were found dead today in a South Loop apartment and authorities think the deaths may be drug-related.
• A new study on asthma cases in the city provides some interesting correlations.
• Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro makes one last stand to keep his job.

Stacked books, fired pages, it sounds like budget cut season has descended for Chicago-area libraries. Stocking books is a job that is usually left to library pages, but in mid-July, Mayor Richard Daley fired almost half of the 279 pages after the library employee union couldn’t agree on budget cuts. With fewer pages to help circulate books, upper-level library staff were forced to pick up the slack. The library cuts are only part of the ongoing battle between Daley and the city’s unions over projected pay cuts in order to help balance the budget. The librarians’ union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the Teamsters union were the only two that didn’t take pay cuts, and thus 431 city employees were let go from both unions. more ›

With the economy in the tank, one organization is seeing a nice uptick in business: the Chicago Public Libraries. With less money available to shell out for books, it seems more and more readers are turning to the library for their literature needs with library usage in the system up 30 percent. That includes a 100 percent increase in online hold usage over the last year. Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey said, "People are realizing, 'Why should I buy my books, my CDs -- I can get it free at the library.'" It's worth mentioning that the library is also a great way to get your hands on some terrific books that are now out of print, like the Harold Washington bio, Fire on the Prairie. [WBBM] more ›

This Chicago artist uses actual library cards to fashion the front and back of her 3.5" by 5" journals, with 80 college-ruled pages in between. Each journal is festooned with a unique literary quote. Bilblio-cool. more ›

is a sort of Arabian Nights, set when a European traveler captures the court of Emperor Akbar, lord of the Mughal Empire, with a story about a beautiful and mysterious woman's travel to far off Florence. more ›

It's no secret that, here at Chicagoist, we love libraries. And why not? All those books, magazines, newspapers, and, most importantly, microfiche! Yes, we're huge nerds. But the library contains a wealth of knowledge. Maybe it's the vast number of books, the sheer volume of literature. Maybe it's the quiet atmosphere, the hush that implies a sense of sanctuary, a place to give reverence to the great literary works of our time. Whatever the reason, we can't get enough of our local branch. And according to the American Library Association (ALA), the nation's libraries are still going strong:

In case you're wondering how today's library is faring, know that library use is up nationwide among all types of library users, and the library remains the number one point of internet access for those without access at home, school or work.

There isn't much sadder than this: Blythe Ann O'Sullivan, a 25-year-old Bloomingdale native, died on Thursday while serving in the Peace Corps. more ›

The cold weather - and holiday festivities - descended upon Gothamist. The Rockefeller Christmas tree was lit, Broadway stagehand finally ended their strike, and NASCAR decided to run their victory lap through Times Square. There were disturbing photographs revealing the working conditions in which many city manholes are produced and ninjas were also a hot topic, either robbing homes or entering into alibis. But the city was really rocked by how Rudy Giuliani's visits... more ›

It was twenty years ago today that Mayor Harold Washington collapsed at his desk in City Hall. He died of a massive heart attack. In 1983, Washington surprised Chicago by winning the Democratic Primary for Mayor. He won with 36% of the vote, beating out incumbent Mayor Jane M. Byrne and Richard M. Daley. In the April 1983 general election, Washington received 52% of the vote to become Chicago’s first black mayor, trumping Bernard Epton... more ›

What started as Chicago actor and director David Blixt’s creative inquiry into the Capulet-Montague feud quickly became so much more. The Master of Verona, Blixt’s debut novel set in 14th Century Italy, explores Italian political life, conspiracy, the life of Dante, and the possible backstory for Romeo and Juliet. While directing the aforementioned Shakespeare play years ago, he found its all-consuming resolution fascinating and troublesome, hinting at but never revealing the source of the families’ feud. So started an intense exploration that took the author to the Newberry Library, the University of Michigan, and the villa Serego Alighieri in Verona. more ›

Yeah, people knew how to fly the friendly skies on November 21st, 1965, when the menu above was served on a United Airlines flight from Denver to San Francisco. This and 380 other menus from airlines, ocean liners, and railroad lines are available for perusal online at the Transportation Library archives of Northwestern University. The archives hark back to a time when multiple course meals were de rigueur not only for first class passengers,... more ›

Tuesday we gave you the rundown of who is running for a Green Party nomination in Illinois, but among the candidates, one in particular stands out. Richard B. Mayers, a white supremacist connected with Matt Hale's Creativity Movement is running against Jerome "Jerry" Pohlen in the 3rd Congressional District. This isn't the first time Mayers has run for office. In 2002 he was removed from the ballot in the 9th Congressional District, leaving Jan Schakowsky... more ›

George Ryan starts his prison sentence today, and the Sun-Times and Trib have helpfully chronicled every move the former governor has made since last night. You know what that means: time for a Ryan Round Up! Olé! Yesterday, the 73-year-old released this statement to the public, again claiming innocence and thanking his family and legal team. At 5:50 this morning, Ryan left his home in Kankakee in a van driven by his son, George Ryan... more ›

Everything we theoretically know and can see comprises only 5% of the universe. At least that's what they tell us. They also tell us that the rest of the universe is mostly a mystery, a mystery explained away as "dark;" dark matter holds it together, and dark energy pushes it apart. more ›

Property tax rates for the Chicago area were announced yesterday, and the fight over how much to raise taxes flared up again. While Todd Stroger tried to make his proposed increases more palatable by offering to rebate any leftover cash from a tax hike that hasn't yet been approved, Mayor Daley took a different approach, sending Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey to a city budget hearing yesterday to shill for higher property taxes. Predictably, county commissioners... more ›

Admit it. One of the reasons you read Missed Connections (and we know you do) is because of the unusual ways people find to try and reconnect. In this edition, we highlight some of the past week's posts, where some brave souls have gone outside of the normal CTA/grocery store/local gym route and found potential love interests in some less-than-traditional places. more ›

We hope some of you got a chance to go to something at the Chicago Book Festival last week, but if not, here’s your chance. Our take on the second week: Jeffrey Toobin, CNN’s senior legal analyst, discusses and signs his newest book The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, and maybe adds a few pointers for broke Chicagoists. Monday, Oct. 8, 6 p.m., Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St., Cindy... more ›

Now that the Cubs are in the playoffs, want to convert? Or maybe you've been a Cubs fan but need to brush up on your trivia skills? Tonight, authors Glenn Stout, of the Best American Sports series, and Richard A. Johnson, the curator of the New England Sports Museum, present their latest collaboration, The Cubs: The Complete Story of Chicago Cubs Baseball, at Harold Washington Library. The Cubs details Cubs history covering such items as... more ›

You might have already heard of the City 2000 project. The mission was to document life in Chicago in the first year of the 21st century for future generations and all that (which, as NASA's "Ask an Astrophysicist" informs us actually started in 2001). Over 200 photographers set out to capture life in the city, as well as sounds and video, which are housed at UIC's library. You can watch parts of the project... more ›

Just so you know, nobody is going to let you forget about global warming for more than five minutes. Whether it's Al Gore's tears, your alderman's lightbulbs, or Blackle, somebody's always got some new way to save the earth and they want to bend your ear about it while they are driving home. The newest thing you should be worried about? How global warming is going to affect your health. more ›

Although many of us are at work today, for our Jewish friends sundown yesterday marked the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is regarded as the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and their first actions toward the realization of mankind's role in God's world. Judaism has four "new year" observances, each marking a different yearly observance. Rosh Hashanah is the new year for people, animals, and legal contracts. There... more ›

The debate over the Chicago Children's Museum plan to relocate to Grant Park has escalated since Monday’s neighborhood meeting at Daley Bicentennial Plaza. There, museum officials introduced plans for a more sunken, environmentally friendly design adjacent to the Plaza. The Museum’s growth has been remarkable. Founded in 1982 in two Chicago Public Library hallways, it’s since moved three times, most recently to Navy Pier in 1995. Twelve years later, they’ve apparently outgrown that tourist magnet.... more ›

Here’s what you missed while you were sneezing and burning: Guest #18, your comments are hilarious, but how do you fare with a live audience? If you think you’ve got the chops, submit a 1-2 minute video to Time Out Chicago by September 20. Best entries will be screened online for their discerning website visitors. The top four will compete live for the chance to be crowned “Chicago’s Funniest Person.” (... at least according to... more ›

by Jonathan Safran Foer. But no longer are we among those unhappy few. Honestly, our main deterrent was the hype. It was the "new cool" hipsters' book, so smug. That and the back cover looked ho-hum (yeah, we're shallow), so we kept declining on principle. But it was a bad decision. Finally a friend convinced us to read it while on a roadtrip, and after we got past the first thirty pages, we couldn't stop reading — or highlighting — our friend's copy. more ›