Newberry has a stellar reputation amongst libraries with a very unique collection of ancient manuscripts and maps. My advance research made my day easy since I applied for a Readers Card in advance and hunted on their website for items I wanted to see. On arrival, a staff person in the Reference Area right off the entrance helped me fill in the items I had dreamed about - a real, yes, real First Shakespeare Folio from 1623; and an English illuminated manuscript from 1520s recommended by the staff person that turned out to also be a thrill of a lifetime. How lucky there is such an institution in the US.

Chicagoan here. This is one of my favorite places in town. A tip for tourists: apply to get your reader card (free) which grants you access to the collection. Check out their website to plan your trip. This is a “non-circulating” library, which essentially means you can’t check things out and take them with you (as you could at a traditional public library). Among the many manuscripts, rare books, music etc., they also have a 1929 Academy Award (Oscar) which you can see and hold (Ben Hecht, Underworld — the first-ever Academy Award for best writing, original story ((now best screenplay)). Makes for a solid snap for the ‘gram, if that's your bag. An exceptional research library, and many authors have used this library as part of writing their books.

I learned about Newberry from a book about cryptologist Elizebeth Friedman. Since we were visiting family in Chicagoland, we decided to go. The library is free to visit, the building is beautiful, and the staff is knowledgeable. If you want to read one of the rare books in the collection, you fill out a form and will be given a card that enables you to go to the fourth floor reading room. We learned that shortly after Shakespeare’s death, his friends collected most of his works into The First Folio. There were 250 copies printed. The Folger library in DC has the most copies, followed by Japan. I’m not sure if the Newberry has more than one, but I am guessing it does. The book will be brought to you by a gloved attendant, who will open it. The cover is very fragile, so you can’t touch that, but you can carefully touch the inside pages with clean hands. As soon as I realized that the “s’s” looked like “f’s, “ I was able to make sense of it. I found Portia’s “quality of mercy” speech in the Merchant of Venice and snapped a cellphone photo. I also saw the Cherokee syllabary— the library has a good collection of Native American/First Nations material. We enjoyed the library’s exhibit honoring Chicago newspaper man Mike Royko. It included copies of some of his greatest columns, his fedora, ashtray and other artifacts, as well as his books. We took a tour of the library, and loved a Ferris wheel that was used to display postcards for sale at the Chicago World’s Fair in the 1930’s. (My uncle and mother were invited to demonstrate Appalachian clog dancing at that fair. My uncle was allowed to go, but my mother was not for fear of a loss of her virtue as a 16-year-old!) The Newberry does not have a cafe, but you can eat your sandwich in a small lounge next to the gift store. The gift store is fun, and has some great Chicago-themed items. The Newberry is at 60 W Walton St., facing a park once known as “Bughouse Square,” where speakers of varying levels of skill and sanity once mounted soap boxes and held forth. The park was quiet, I guess people now go online to voice their opinions.

We came upon this amazing place by chance as we were walking from Old Towne to Downtown. It is a gem, especially for book and/or history lovers. The volunteers and staff members are welcoming and informative. The have changing exhibits and a fantastic bookstore.