Special Collections

Contribute to a community art exhibit

Collage of black and white photographs of Victorian-style houses and a color digital inkjet print showing modern park and sidewalk scenes, and one person drawing over a streetscape image, and another person placing carbon paper on a table

Encoded Memories is an art exhibit coming to the Main Library Gallery in May. Revolving around themes of time, place, and memory, it will feature images showing Oak Park past and present, including historical scenes from the library’s Special Collections. But there’s a twist! The work that will be on display in the second-floor gallery isn’t … Read more

Discover a hidden gem: Special Collections at the Main Library

Two people in the Special Collections Reading Room. One examines a framed drawing on the table, another sits near a woman's heeled shoe

Tucked away in the northwest corner of the Main Library’s third floor are treasures you might not expect to find in a public library. For example, there’s a childhood essay that Ernest Hemingway wrote on lined paper, titled “A Trip to Field Museum.” A baby book that documents the first 18 months of Ernest’s older … Read more

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