Clarification/Follow-up by wvseagull on 12/29/03 2:09 pm:
Wow! Chicago has TWO newspapers! But no Playboy in the library. Oh, well. But the Museum of Science and Industry is a great spot to visit. Still, I wonder about a library where you can actually talk out loud. Maybe I should fly up to Chicago and check out the library for myself. Check out a book or a librarian for the weekend.
Happy New Year!

Clarification/Follow-up by CeeBee on 12/29/03 2:21 pm:
wveaglescout: Oh, there's Playboy in the rich libraries, but not in the poor one where I work. Most libraries these days are pretty noisy with tantrumy kids, people talking on their cellphones, parents hollering for lost kids (or each other), coughing, sneezing, teen boys teasing teen girls, teen girls giggling when they get teased, and on and on. In my library there are rules to cut down on some of this noise...no unattended kids, no hollering, no cell phone use in the main part of the building (so they go into the bathrooms and echo off the tile)...during the winter we occasionally spray Lysol from the second floor catwalk in order to fight germs...

There are lots of libraries in Chicagoland -- one per suburb in the hinterlands, and many Chicago Public branches in the city limits, in addition to the main one downtown. You will need a valid library card from any Illinois (where IS that??) library in order to check out a book, and a note from a responsible adult who has a valid IL library card if you wish to check out a librarian (or to "check out" a librarian, just pose as one of the homeless who are trying blend in by reading a magazine, ummm but not Playboy).