First Excursions

Today’s trips to the Chicago Public Library and the Library of the Art Institute of Chicago were very eye-opening. Neither of the Libraries were what I expected. The vastness of the first library astonished me. I can only imagine the time it takes to collect and organize such an extensive amount of resources. An interesting and positive aspect of the library that I observed were the different galleries. Different exhibits seemed to tie the community to the library. Like the librarian said, they enhance the different ways in which a person can learn from a library. A negative aspect of the library was its computer supply. I was somewhat taken back by the number of computers in the library itself. I believe there were 133, which seems unaccommodating for the citizens of Chicago. I don’t know if the monetary resources exist to supply this public library with more computers, but they seem to be in need of more. The computers are apparently full all of the time, and you must schedule an appointment to get on one. I personally think that computers should be available on every floor.
I particularly enjoyed the second library because of its specificity to the Art Institute of Chicago. The library contained different things like art magazines and newspapers, Macintosh computers, masters’ theses and other resources that would be appropriate and necessary for all types of art majors. Unfortunately, the library seemed to be lacking in space. However, it contained an extensive collection of references, books, and videos as well as an incredible film collection. I particularly enjoyed the collection of books by artists. This form of literature was very fascinating to me, because words are accentuated by art and vice versa. I was truly drawn to everything in this library because I find art, particularly in the form of music, to be a fascinating thing to interpret and study.