Blackstone Library

Blackstone Library
Front of Blackstone Library
General information
Town or city	4904 South Lake Park Avenue Chicago, IL, Illinois
Country	United States
Construction started	1902
Completed	1904
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Solon S. Beman

T. B. Blackstone Memorial Library is a building that is part of the Chicago Public Library System and is named after Timothy Blackstone. The building was designed by Chicago architect Solon S. Beman. It is now known as the Chicago Public Library – Blackstone Branch and commonly referred to as Blackstone Library, or Blackstone Branch and sometimes Blackstone for short. The Concord Granite building's two-year construction started in 1902, and it was dedicated on January 8, 1904.^[1] Blackstone Library marks the beginning of the Chicago Branch Library System as the first dedicated branch in the system.^[2] Blackstone is also the only branch of the 79-branch Chicago Public Library branch system that was constructed using private funding.^[1] The Blackstone Library was designated as a Chicago Landmark.^[3]

The building is located in Chicago's Kenwood community area in Cook County, Illinois, United States and serves the Hyde Park, Kenwood, and Oakland community areas. The branch celebrated its 100th anniversary of service in 2004.^[4] Today, the library has bronze and mahogany furnishings and has themed paintings on the rotunda ceiling. The library is equipped with custom-designed furniture and makes public Wi-Fi access available to its patrons.