Let’s Collaborate | Chicago Coalition of Library Friends

News from the Chicago Coalition of Library Friends

We want to share the results of a citywide survey we conducted (February to May 2017) with those who use the Chicago Public Library.

Survey respondents reside in 42 of the 58 residential ZIP codes in Chicago, and 58% of survey respondents have lived in those ZIP codes for six years or more. Survey findings include:

  • The median age of the respondents is 40 years of age, and over 95% have library cards.

  • About 80% of them use the library several times a year, staying in the library for at least an hour each time.

  • Over 50% of them use their library to get books and magazines. The remainder visit the library to use the internet on their library’s computers or the free Wi-Fi.

  • The most compelling finding was this: 80% would like to see the library opened longer.

Coalition Members

Representatives of the Coalition of Library Friends are (photos above l to r) from Albany Park, Bezazian (north Uptown), Blackstone (Hyde Park), Edgewater, Logan Square, and Rogers Park.*

All Library Friends groups raise funds to augment their respective branches and will continue to advocate for the Chicago Public Library and the restoration of branch library hours.

* Photos courtesy of Chicago Public Library, except Rogers Park from dnainfo.com, and Edgewater from Burling Builders, Inc.

Join The Coalition

Does your Chicago Public Library branch have a Friends Group? If so, join the Coalition to help keep Chicago’s libraries strong.

Want To Start A Friends Group At Your Library

Interested in starting a Friends group for your branch of the Chicago Public library?

United for Libraries, a division of the American Library Association provides resources for starting a Friends group. 

We would love to help all branches establish Friends groups!

About The Chicago Coalition of Library Friends

The Chicago Coalition of Library Friends, which is comprised of Library Friends groups in Chicago, was started in August 2016. Its purpose is to:

  • assist in the formation of new Library Friends groups;

  • provide information to help maintain existing groups; and

  • build public consensus to restore the number of hours that Chicago Public Libraries are open.

Restoration Advocacy

We are happy to report that near the end of 2021, Chicago Public Library branches resumed opening on Sundays from 1-5 p.m., providing patrons with 52 hours per week of service. Prior to that, they were open 48 hours each week, reduced from 64 hours a week in 2010.

In addition, branch libraries are open two evenings a week – either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays. On those days, library hours are noon to 8 p.m. On other weekdays, the open hours are staggered so that visitors could go to another nearby library when their “home library” is closed.

For example, visitors to the Edgewater Library, which opens at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays, could either go to the Bezazian Library or Rogers Park Library on those days as they open at 10 a.m.

In bringing this restoration of hours issue before the public, members of the Coalition have met with their aldermen, spoken before City Hall, and at public forums. They have also conducted a survey to determine public interest in restoring the number of hours that libraries are open and communicated that information to the media.

Media Support

Click to see segment on WTTW website.

Click to see segment on WTTW website.

A spokesperson for the Coalition commented on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight about restoring the library hours, and on the Inspector General’s report, which noted that the Chicago Public Library is not serving its public patrons. Read the story and watch the segment at: WTTW Coalition

The report cites that professional staff has less time to answer reference questions and respond to patrons’ requests because there are not enough pages or clerks to check books in or out, and to re-shelve returned books. Branch libraries are still the learning-resource centers in their respective neighborhoods.