Putnam: Branch Libraries Heartbeat of Community

- The collections and services of the Near North Branch reflect the needs and interests of the community and change with it. There are meeting rooms, local artwork to reflect the community, workshops addressing the needs of local people, book clubs, and even a local African American history exhibit. (p. 36-40)

- The planners wanted to create a community anchor, to try and change the surrounding communities, especially Cabrini Green, in a positive way by bringing them together and sparking interaction. (p. 38)

- They wanted to make sure community members from Gold Coast community would feel safe going to the library and that the Cabrini Green residents wouldn't face any physical or psychological barriers that would feel as if they weren't as welcome to use the library.

-Librarians made rounds of the local schools reading stories, not only to advertise the assets of the library, but also to make social connections so the kids felt as if they were part of the library and welcome to its many programs and activities, and that the library was an integral and active part of the community. (p. 40)

-Gentrification is the tearing down of low income housing and replacing it with middle to high class developments. The new library was a sign of positive change, and this sparked other developments to better the surrounding area, which eventually lead to the eviction of many Cabrini residents and the area becoming more middle-class, which is good in terms of community development but at the same time decreasing its diversity. (p.42)

-The Humboldt Park branch has an extensive collection of spanish language materials, combined the children's and adult sections so those at all reading levels felt comfortable, and fishing poles to further stimulate community interaction with the nearby lake. Uptown has a large southeast asian population so they have books in Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Chinese and also have bamboo plants throughout the library. (p.45)

-According to the authors the library serves as a third place by functioning as a community center where a community finds its identity and where people create social networks. It allows people to meet face to face through book discussions, readings, classes, homework help after school, clubs, etc. Its a place where you can discover what is happening in the neighborhood.