Academic Libraries vs. Public Libraries

Suggestions for Teachers and Media Specialists

The University of Chicago has an extremely large and complex academic library designed for advanced research. The Library holds over 7.6 million volumes and 44,000 periodicals in six campus libraries in languages from Arabic to Yiddish. While our Library's large and diverse collections attract faculty and visiting scholars from around the world, the size of our collections and level of the materials often overwhelm and frustrate high school students (as well as many of our undergraduates).

Before planning a visit to an academic library, we recommend taking another look at your local public library. The Chicago Public Library has several advantages for school groups:

• Collections designed for a general audience, at all research levels.
• Books can be checked out by your students.
• Extensive online collections that can be accessed from any computer with a public library card number.
• Youth services librarians with extensive experience working with school groups.
• Wonderful historical collections and archives at the Harold Washington Library Center and CPL's two regional libraries, Woodson and Sulzer.

For more information about the Chicago Public Library's collections and services, visit their web site. To schedule a program for school groups, use CPL's Ask a Librarian service.