Legler
About this Library
Legler Branch Library was rededicated on July 31, 1993, after undergoing a major renovation. It first opened on October 11, 1920 as the Legler Regional Library and was named in honor of Henry Legler, Librarian of the Chicago Public Library from 1909 to1917. Legler is given credit for increasing library services by launching deposit stations in businesses, hospitals and schools. He also developed branch reading rooms and established the City?s regional library system. Legler Branch was the first Regional Library in the Chicago Public Library system.
Legler Branch Library displays the restored mural entitled Wilderness, Winter River Scene, by Midwestern artist R. Fayerweather Babcock. The mural depicts Father Jaques Marquette and 18th century Native Americans trading by the river. The mural was commissioned for Legler Branch Library in 1934 and funded by the Work Projects Administration (WPA), a program that provided federal funding for artists during the Depression. Legler Branch also houses two artworks funded through the Percent for Art Ordinance administered by the City of Chicago Public Art Program: a carved wood sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett and a painting by Kerry James Marshall. The branch is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.