In the aftermath of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, Londoner A.H. Burgess, with the aid of Thomas Hughes, drew up what would be called the "English Book Donation", which proposed that England should provide a free library to the burnt-out city.

Burgess wrote on December 7, 1871 in The Daily News that "I propose that England should present a Free Library to Chicago, to remain there as a mark of sympathy now, and a keepsake and a token of true brotherly kindness forever ..."[7] After circulating requests for donations throughout English society, the project donated 8,000 books.

[8] In Chicago, town leaders petitioned Mayor Joseph Medill to hold a meeting and establish the library.

In the rebuilding section of the city, on January 1, 1873, the Chicago Public Library officially opened its doors in an abandoned iron water tank at LaSalle and Adams Streets.

On October 15, 1887, Frederick H. Hild was elected the second Librarian of the Chicago Public Library and securing a permanent home was his primary drive.

Designed by the Boston firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in the same academic classical style as their building for the Art Institute of Chicago, it is located on Michigan Avenue between Washington Street and Randolph Street on land donated by the Grand Army of the Republic, a Civil War Veterans group led by John A. Logan, a Civil War General and U.S.

The goal of the plan was to bring "library service within the walking distance of home for every person in Chicago who can read or wants to use books."

The South Chicago Branch library history from 1937-1947 has been explored by Latham who focused on its service to an industrial community and adult education.

The two-story, 62,000-square-foot (5,800 m2) modernist Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, named after the "Father of Modern Black Historiography," opened its doors in December 1975, to serve as the South Side.

The Woodson regional branch library features the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection, one of the largest repositories of African-American archival information in the Midwest.

It holds the papers of many notable Chicagoans, such as John H. Sengstacke, Robert S. Abbott, Doris E. Saunders, Timuel Black, Rev.

One plan was to move the library to the former Rothchild/Goldblatts Department Store which stood empty on Chicago's State Street and had reverted to City ownership.

Her stewardship in Chicago saw a particular focus on literacy services, and she strongly mentored younger colleagues, including a future Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden.

On July 29, 1987, Mayor Harold Washington and the Chicago City Council authorized a design and construction competition for a new, one-and-a-half block $144 million library at 400 South State Street.

Scholars included Camila Alire (1999); Leigh S. Estabrook (2002); Kathleen de la Peña McCook (2003); Joan C. Durrance (2004); Michael Stephens (2005); Maureen Sullivan (2006); George Needham (2007) and Patricia Martin (2008).

In late 2013, a study released by the Information Science Department of Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, Germany ranked Chicago Public Library first in the United States and third in the world, when comparing 31 major urban libraries taking leadership roles in supporting "smart cities" in a "knowledge economy.

[21] In 2019, CPL became the largest public library system in the United States to eliminate fines for borrowed overdue items.