Dogs in the library?
BEN: Always looking for a reason to get our tails wagging, we headed up to Irving Park to meet Wally and Ruby, the stars of a therapy dog program at the Independence Branch. The turnout was huge!
Librarian Maria, a 21-year veteran of CPL, gave us the scoop on the gorgeous building with a massive multi-story atrium. This location features a YouMedia teen space and a recording studio among its many amenities. Maria gave a special shoutout to her fantastic colleagues in the kids’ and teens’ departments who run a large variety of programming (like therapy dogs!).
This location opened in 2019 after a fire destroyed the prior library storefront. Independence is one of four CPL locations co-located with a Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) facility – faithful readers of the blog will recall that we’ve already visited Altgeld (#10) and Little Italy (#17), leaving Northtown remaining.
Maria reported that the branch’s diverse patrons, heralding from Old Irving Park, the West Walker triangle, and Avondale, are avid and self-sufficient readers, placing lots of holds. Unique to this branch are a large cookbook collection and a significant body of large print books.
On our way out, we discovered the remnants of the prior day’s plant swap event – I’m a sucker for new plants, and we had to bring home a new little friend (in the cutest little red Solo cup you’ve ever seen!).
What about transit?
DANIEL: Ok let’s see here, where do I begin? I haven’t written one of these in a while…
The library is served by the CTA Route 80, and if you walk a bit, the 53, 54A, and 82. The Irving Park Blue Line station is 0.6 miles away. The Metra UP-NW’s Irving Park station is right across the freeway, 0.8 miles away. There is no point in taking Pace unless you really want to just waste time, since the closest Pace stop is Jefferson Park, which serves Pace Routes 225, 226, 270, and the Pulse Dempster Line. There are bike racks. Parking on the street is fine, though you gotta pay!
CTA Bus: ✅
CTA Train: ✅
Metra: ✅
Pace: 😐
Parking/Biking: ✅
4/5! Pretty good!
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