Press Release

August 14, 2009

Ruth Lednicer
Director of Marketing
(312) 747-4907
lednicer@chipublib.org

THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY CELEBRATES THE BURNHAM CENTENNIAL WITH THE 2009 FALL ONE BOOK, ONE CHICAGO SELECTION, THE PLAN OF CHICAGO: DANIEL BURNHAM AND THE REMAKING OF THE AMERICAN CITY

In celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of the Plan of Chicago – Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett’s bold vision for our city and region – the Chicago Public Library has selected Carl Smith’s The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City. This book is essential to understanding our city’s evolution from prairie, to industrial hub, to the city we know today. Smith gives remarkable insight into the need for and creation of such an ambitious plan for our city in 1909, a plan now regarded as landmark in the history of urban planning.

Throughout its history, the Chicago Public Library (CPL) has always encouraged Chicagoans of all ages to make reading a priority. One Book, One Chicago began in the fall of 2001, to encourage all Chicagoans to read the same book at the same time, and discuss a great piece of literature with friends and neighbors. CPL librarians have created resource guides and will conduct book discussions across the city in libraries, colleges and cultural institutions. One Book, One Chicago can be experienced in virtually every Chicago neighborhood throughout the fall. This includes film screenings, lectures, and panel discussions presented in partnership with DePaul University, the Newberry Library, Chicago Matters, the Great Books Foundation, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and the Burnham Plan Centennial.

September highlights
On September 2, the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park will be the site of a screening of Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City.

This documentary film explores the fascinating life and complex legacy of Daniel Hudson Burnham and how his vision to organize the chaos of 19th century America shaped the nation’s towns and cities for generations. The film, the first full-length documentary about Burnham, was directed by Judith McBrien and produced by The Archimedia Workshop (thearchimediaworkshop.org) in consultation with Kartemquin Films. The film will also be screened at three CPL locations later in the month.

Lookingglass Theatre will present their one-man performance of Our Future Metropolis, in which Mr. Burnham’s initial presentation of the Plan to the public is recreated, at the Harold Washington Library Center on September 14 and again in a special performance for teens on September 19.

DePaul University will once again offer a ten-week, graduate level course on the One Book, One Chicago topic, this fall taught by acclaimed Chicago-based fiction writer Bayo Ojikutu, beginning September 9. For more information, including course tuition, visit the Department of English’s Web site at www.depaul.edu/~oboc or call (773) 325-7486.

October highlights
Eleven Chicago Public Library locations will host community discussions in October featuring facilitators whose insights into the Plan of Chicago and related topics will bring added depth to the conversation. Using Carl Smith’s book as a launching point, these programs will ask: How has the city been shaped by our needs these past one hundred years and how will it evolve in the next one hundred? These community discussions are presented in partnership with Chicago Matters, The Great Books Foundation and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning.

Carl Smith will appear at the Chicago Public Library’s Harold Washington Library Center on October 24, for an engaging illustrated talk about the remarkable effort to create and implement the Plan of Chicago.

One Book, One Chicago book discussions will take place at select Barnes and Noble locations, Gerber/Hart Library, Harold Washington College and Loyola University. Nearly 2,000 copies of The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City are available at Chicago Public Library locations. At seven Chicago Public Library branches, patrons can check out a Book Club in a Bag which contains eight copies of the novel and resource guides. One Book, One Chicago programs are open to the public and free of charge. For an up-to-date schedule of events, call (312) 747-8191 or visit chicagopubliclibrary.org.

The 2009 Fall One Book, One Chicago is presented by the Chicago Public Library, the Chicago Public Library Foundation, Motorola and the Northern Trust. Additional support is provided by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Public Radio, The Burnham Plan Centennial, The Great Books Foundation, DePaul University, The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning and Chicago Matters, an annual public information series made possible by The Chicago Community Trust, our region’s community foundation.

Past One Book, One Chicago selections have been To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Night by Elie Wiesel, My Ántonia by Willa Cather, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler, The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.

The Chicago Public Library is comprised of the Harold Washington Library Center, two regional libraries and 76 neighborhood branches. All locations provide free access to a rich collection of books, DVDs, audio books and music; the Internet and WiFi; sophisticated research databases, many of which can be accessed from a home or office computer; newspapers and magazines; and continue to serve as cultural centers, presenting the highest quality author discussions, exhibits and programs for children, teens and adults.

The Harold Washington Library Center, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library and Conrad Sulzer Regional Library are open 7 days a week, the remaining 76 branch libraries are open 6 days a week and patrons can access all of the libraries ’ collections online 24 hours a day. For more information, please visit the website or call the Chicago Public Library Press Office at (312) 747-4050.