CHICAGO— We know what Chicagoans were listening to in 2023 — but what were we reading?
The Chicago Public Library released its 2023 “wrapped” this month, rounding up the most popular book and audiobook rentals of the year. The library also has big plans for 2024 — and wants locals to know they can access more than just books for free at city libraries.
More than 7 million resources were checked out of Chicago Public Library branches this year—a number that’s expected to increase in 2024, said library Commissioner Chris Brown.
What resources are being checked out — and how they’re checked out — is changing, however. So is the function and resources available at Chicago Public Library branches as the system celebrates its 150th anniversary and looks to the future.
Top 5 Book Borrows
- “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” by Gabrielle Zevi
- “Lessons in Chemistry,” by Bonnie Garmus
- “Spare,” by Prince Harry, duke of Sussex
- “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale,” by Art Spiegelman
- “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” by Jennette McCurdy
Top 5 E-Book Borrows
- “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” by Gabrielle Zevi
- “Lessons in Chemistry,” by Bonnie Garmus
- “Happy Place,” by Emily Henry
- “Verity,” by Colleen Hoover
- “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” by Jennette McCurdy
TOP 5 Audiobook Borrows
- 101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think
- “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” by Jennette McCurdy
- “Spare,” by Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex
- “Braiding Sweetgrass,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- “Fourth Wing,” Rebecca Yarros
‘The Library … Is So Many Things’
The Chicago Public Library system was founded in 1873 as the city rose from the Great Chicago Fire of two years prior. It was founded with just 8,000 books, including some donated by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom in the wake of the devastating fire.
One hundred and fifty years later, the system has a million library card holders and 81 library branches. The scope of libraries and the types of services they provide has grown too, spurred in part by the pandemic.
In just the past year, the circulation of e-books and online audiobooks has increased by 30 percent, according to library data.
Online checkouts of library resources has also spiked since the pandemic began in 2020. This year, nearly half of the 7 million resources checked out from the library were done so online, according to data from the Chicago Public Library.
The library’s popular free museum pass program has also been moved online, saving library users drives to sometimes multiple branches to secure the coveted passes. In 2023, over 15,000 free museum passes were checked out digitally.
Making library resources available online has led to more people using their local library system, said Becca Boland of the Illinois Library Association.
And as library services move online, what is offered at library branches is shifting, too. That includes offering health services and technology hubs.
“The magic of the library is that every time you go in, there’s new programs and resources to explore,” Boland said. “The library is one of few spaces where you can go without having to spend money, and they often become anything the folks in their community need them to be.”
Although many more people are accessing library resources online, 2023 also marked Chicagoans’ return to the libraries’ physical spaces, Brown said.
Chicago Public Library branches counted more than 5 million visits in 2023, compared to about 4 million visits in 2022, data showed. The number of kids who participated in the library’s summer reading program tripled this year as well, Brown said.
About 322,000 people attended just under 20,000 events hosted at Chicago Public Libraries throughout the year, according to library data.
To make it easier for kids to stop by the libraries after school, Chicago Public Libraries launched the 81 Club. The program allows kids to sign up for student accounts without help from their parents or documents that show proof of residence.
Through the program, kids can access services including homework help and the YouMedia Studios, where they can use music equipment, 3D printers, sewing machines and much more.
“The library can be a quiet place to go study and do research, or it could be a place you create things with 3D printers and sewing machines,” Boland said. “The library is story times, it’s movie showings, it’s lectures, it’s concerts, and so many other things as well.”
This year, the Chicago Public Library began providing free Narcan kits through a partnership with the Department of Public Health. More than 10,000 Narcan kits, which can stop opioid overdoses, were distributed through this program in 2023, Brown said.
The Chicago Public Library also hired mental health clinicians at four library branches — in Beverly, Mt. Greenwood, Edgewater and Kenwood — to make it easier for people to access wellness groups and other resources.
“I think these programs are yielding a lot for our neighborhoods,” Brown said. “Providing free Narcan does more than just increase access to these resources, it’s a way to destigmatize addiction. We’re trying to find ways to bring these services into our neighborhoods, so people don’t have to rely only on medical settings.”
Next year, the Chicago Public Library will embark on planning initiatives to redesign the library’s physical spaces, Brown said. More information about how Chicagoans can participate in the process will be announced in the new year.
“We’re going to be thinking about what we want the future to look like,” Brown said. “How should our spaces feel when you walk in? How can we utilize the latest technologies to keep these spaces dynamic and keep people engaged?”
In addition to the opening of the Barack Obama Presidential Library in South Shore in 2025, the development of two more library branches and funding for a third branch were announced in 2023, servicing Woodlawn, West Humboldt Park and Back of the Yards. Studies show that library capital spending results in 20 percent increases in visitation, Brown said.
The library system’s anniversary celebrations came amidst increasing threats against libraries and their employees.
Chicago Public Library was the target of bomb threats threats this year that impacted libraries across the country. Efforts to ban books have also made it harder than ever for librarians to provide the community with the vital resources these institutions offer, according to Boland.
“A lot of folks working in libraries are still recovering from the stress of the pandemic, but now they’re dealing with bomb threats and book banning,” Boland said. “And all that is on top of the amazing work librarians do on a day-to-day basis, so it’s overwhelming.”
The way neighbors can support their local librarians is through patronage of their local branches and getting involved or giving to “friends of the library” groups, Boland said.
“There’s truly something for everyone in a library and it’s all been paid for already, so it’s available to you the same way it is to your neighbor,” she said. “There aren’t many places where an older person is learning to use email for the first time and simultaneously, a kid is learning how to read, and there’s a magic to that.”
For more on Chicago Public Library’s 150th anniversary as well as new initiatives, click here.
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