Near North
About This Library
Near North Branch was dedicated on August 6, 1997, replacing a temporary reading room in the Seward Park Field House. The branch features art funded through the Percent for Art Ordinance administered by the City of Chicago Public Art Program: a mixed media collage entitled Scott Street at Cabrini Green, by Mat Barber Kennedy; and a series of oil on canvas entitled Illinois Writers, by Steve Musgrave; and an acrylic on birch panel entitled Key Bearer U, by Jane Williams Ferris.
Near North Branch originally opened at 1157 North Cleveland on October 12, 1972 as a study center located in two combined apartments for residents of the Chicago Housing Authority, where it remained until its move to a temporary field house in 1992.