Chicago Public Library

Harold Washington Library Center

Ninth Floor

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS & WINTER GARDEN

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The Winter Garden rises over 100 feet through the tenth floor to a skylight and is decorated with four olive trees. This grand space can be rented for special events. The Special Collections and Preservation Division, on the north side of the floor, houses rare books, pamphlets, photographs, artifacts, art work, and archival materials on the Civil War, Chicago theater, the 1893 and 1933 World's Fairs, Chicago neighborhood history, Mayor Harold Washington, Chicago authors and publishing, and the Chicago Public Library Archives. The exhibit halls often showcase Special Collections materials. The corridor on the south side of the floor features a mural created by six prominent Chicago muralists entitled Communidad, Si (It takes a Vision). The mural integrates themes associated with the mural movement - neighborhood power, urban renewal, and ethnic diversity - that were also important to Harold Washington.

Harold Washington Library Center