studij:s on museums and kindred institutions. 475 



1,800,000 books, and at the same time allowing to be used in the build- 

 ing itself more than 2, 000,000, books, newspapers, and journals. 



As the great lire in October, 1871, practically destroyed all li])raries, 

 both public and private, Chicago suffered from a real book famine, 

 and the English writer, Thomas Hughes, addressed an appeal to the 

 writers and publishers among his countrymen to provide the city 



n 



-ase0i 



Fig. 55.— Chicago Public Library. Plan of first floor. 



with books, and there quickly came in this way, from Great Britain 

 and the rest of Europe, and from America, a total of 7,000 volumes, the 

 nucleus of the public li])rary which was founded in January, 1872. In 

 January, 1873, a reading room was opened temporarily in the city hall, 

 and in March, 1874, the library, with over 17,000 volumes, was estab- 

 lished not far from its present location. From 1875 on it was again 



Fig. 56.— Chicago Public Library. Plan of second floor. 



located in another noighlwring building, until in 1880, with 120,000 

 volumes, it moved into the fourth story of the new Cit}' Hall, whence, in 

 1897, with about 230,000 books, it was transferred in .six and one-half 

 days to its present palace," and fourteen days thereafter, on October 

 11, the anniversary of the great fire, it was opened for the. use of the 



« The moving itself cost only $657 outside of the help of the employees of the 

 library. 



