Harold Washington Library Center
General Information Services
The General Information Services Department includes the Information Center, Newspapers and General Periodicals, Interlibrary Loan on the third floor and the Popular Library on the first floor.
THIRD FLOOR
400 S. State Street
Chicago, Illinois 60605
Featured Collections
- General interest magazines
- Current newspapers from every U.S. state
- Various foreign country newspapers in English
- Chicago neighborhood newspapers
- Suburban newspapers
- Various U.S. ethnic newspapers
- Alternative press newspapers
- Retrospective years of bound magazines, microfilmed magazines and newspapers
- Indexes in a variety of formats
- Directories and almanacs
- Telephone directories from many cities in the United States and English-speaking countries
- Chicago newspaper microfilm holdings (1833-current)
- The Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey (1861-1938)
- Early American Newspapers (1704-1820)
- The Lerner Newspaper Collection of Chicago neighborhood and suburban newspapers (1905-1993)
- The Underground Newspaper Microfilm Collection (1963-1984)
Information Center
The Information Center provides quick answers to general reference questions by telephone, utilizing reference sources covering all subject areas. Staff can check the Chicago Public Library’s catalog for up to three titles per call and provide current reverse-directory information for the City of Chicago. Staff can place a hold on the items owned by the Library or transfer your call to have the shelves checked. When the requested titles are not owned by the Library, staff can either direct you to another library that owns the item or request the title through interlibrary loan.
- (312) 747-4300
- Textnet: (312) 747-4314
Interlibrary Loan
If an item is not owned by the Chicago Public Library, it can often be obtained from another library through interlibrary loan. Interlibrary loan requests are placed in person or by phone at any CPL location. Patrons may specify the CPL location where they want to pick up the interlibrary loan material. When the item is received, the borrower is notified. Interlibrary loan materials held at the Harold Washington Library Center are usually picked up on the third floor at the Circulation Check-Out Desk. This service is usually free, but there may be a charge for materials held by only a few libraries and for photocopied material.
- (312) 747-4344