5 Best Libraries in Chicago (2026)

The Harold Washington Library Center is the central branch of the Chicago Public Library, a ten-floor landmark on State Street in the Loop. Its ninth-floor Winter Garden, a bright atrium under a glass dome, is the piece everyone photographs, but visitors describe art at every turn: quotes on the walls, paintings, and large installations spread through the stacks. Beyond the enormous book collection, it works as a study hall, an events venue, and an exhibition space, with open desks, reservable group rooms, and rotating shows. Entry is free.

The Chinatown Branch of the Chicago Public Library sits in the heart of Chinatown in a curved glass building with a green roof that visitors single out. Inside, a large Chinese-language collection runs alongside the English one, and there are meeting rooms, public computers for kids and adults, and a children's play area. It's a working neighborhood library that also happens to look striking, and it's steps from the CTA Red Line.

The Newberry Library is an independent humanities research library that's been free and open to the public since 1887. Nothing circulates: the collection is archival, spanning rare books, maps, and manuscripts, with especially deep resources for genealogy and Indigenous history. Alongside the reading rooms it runs free tours and rotating exhibitions, and the reading spaces are the kind of quiet you rarely find anywhere else in the city.

The Richard J. Daley Library is the main library of the University of Illinois Chicago, with collections across the arts, humanities, sciences, and engineering. Its Special Collections and University Archives focus on the history of Chicago, holding rare printed material and manuscripts. Students lean on its study rooms and the IDEA Commons study space, and there's a cafe, vending, and printing on site. Reviewers describe it as a dependable, comfortable place to get work done.

The Little Italy Branch is a neighborhood Chicago Public Library on Taylor Street, in a bright, naturally lit building that reviewers keep calling beautiful. It has dedicated sections for teens and children, reservable study and private rooms, free printing that comes with computer use, and free parking behind the building. It's a well-liked community spot that promotes reading and family programming.