Park Ridge Public Library
History
The library, which was established with a $7,500 grant from the Carnegie Foundation, opened to the public on December 6, 1913. Originally the library was open 10 hours a week which was increased to 15 hours in 1923 and 61 hours in 1932. A thousand books were donated to the new library by the George Carpenter Estate. The total book collection consisted of 2,072 volumes. Upon opening, the library had only two paid staff members. The library was originally located at 1 N. Northwest Highway. That building served as the City's library for 44 years until a new one was built across the street. The current library was built in 1958. An addition was added in 1977 that doubled the size of the building.
Resources
The Park Ridge Public Library has a collection of approximately 175,000 items with an annual circulation of over 500,000 items.
Services
Each department offers a variety of services to the residents of Park Ridge.
- Reference Department
- Readers Services Department
- Young Adult Department
- Children's Department
Free programs for adults include:
- Art lectures
- Music performances
- Cooking demonstrations
- Theatrical presentations
- Health programs
- Feature films
- Foreign films
- Travel films
References
- ^ Park Ridge city, Illinois - Fact Sheet - American FactFinder
- ^ Park Ridge Public Library Library Mission And Technology Statement Archived 2008-03-13 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "First Public Library Opened Late in 1913." Park Ridge Herald Advocate. January 9, 1958
- ^ "Library Search & Compare". imls.gov. Retrieved September 26, 2023.