The River Forest Public Library is located at 735 Lathrop Avenue in

River Forest, Illinois River Forest is a suburban village adjacent to Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, U.S. Per the 2020 census, the population was 11,717. Two universities make their home in River Forest, Dominican University and Concordia University Chicago. The v ...

, a suburban community just west of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. It serves a core population of approximately 11,000 residents, and drawing reciprocal patrons from the surrounding area. The library is part of the SWAN (System Wide Automated Network consortium, which connects libraries in over 80 suburbs of Chicago through a shared catalog and other services.

History

The River Forest Public Library opened its doors in 1905, in a small store front property on Park Avenue. The current library building, designed by

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

architect,

William Eugene Drummond William Eugene Drummond (March 28, 1876 – September 13, 1948) was a Chicago Prairie School architect. Early years and education He was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of carpenter and cabinet maker Eugene Drummond and his wife Ida Marietta L ...

, was completed in 1929. An addition to the building was added in 1989. A more complete history of the Library can be found on the River Forest Public Library website. The library is a designated significant property, as determined in a 2013 survey commissioned for the Village of River Forest Historic Preservation Commission.

Collections and programs

The River Forest Public Library has over 90,000 items, including books, CDs, DVDs, periodicals, and an expansive collection of digital materials and electronic resources. RFPL provides access to a wide variety of databases online through the library website for River Forest Library cardholders. The library also provides inter-library loan service for books and articles to cardholders as well as a variety of programs for patrons of all ages, including 2 seasonal reading programs open to all RFPL cardholders.

Governance

The River Forest Public Library is run by a director hired by the library's Board of Trustees. The seven trustees are elected for staggered six year terms during the April consolidated elections. The library is divided into several service departments: Adult and Teen Services, Children's Services, Materials Services, in addition to the Administration Department. Staff consist of approximately eight full-time employees and 15-17 part-time employees.

References

Additional resources on River Forest

* ''History of River Forest'' by Albert Hall. 1938. * ''River Forest: Origins, History, Founders, and Monuments'' by Bradford Schwarz. 2005 * ''A Guidebook to the Architecture of River Forest'' by Jeannette S. Fields, editor. 1990. * ''River Forest History Files'' Contains materials from 1876-2002.

External links

River Forest library website

Millennium Web Catalog
{{Authority control River Forest, Illinois Public libraries in Illinois Libraries in Cook County, Illinois Library buildings completed in 1929 Historic district contributing properties in Illinois Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Illinois Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois