Waukegan Public Library history

After successfully operating a free library for two years, the Club appealed to the Waukegan city government for support, and in 1898 the Waukegan Public Library was formally created when the city took ownership of the Sesame Club's library.

The "Friends of the Waukegan Public Library" organization was formed in 1963.

The limestone building currently occupied by the Waukegan Public Library, located at the corner of County and Clayton streets, was opened for business on December 27, 1965.

After Shimer College moved to Waukegan in 1979, much of the school's library was housed in the basement of the Waukegan Public Library, due to the school itself having insufficient space.

A major renovation in 1998 added some 16,000 square feet, while remaining faithful to the building's original esthetic.

The college and library maintained numerous ties, including the painting of a mural on "the Art of the Story" on the library building in 2004.

After Shimer left for Chicago in 2006, the basement space that had been used for the Shimer collection was repurposed.

In 2008, based on analysis of the need for literacy exposure among Waukegan kindergarten students, the library opened a 2,000-square-foot Early Learning Center in the children's department.