Newberry Library: Free Shakespeare

Newberry Library: Free Shakespeare.

The Shakespeare Project of Chicago theatrical reading series presents free Shakespeare.

Where: The Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton Street, Ruggles Hall, 312-943-9090. Admission is free, seating is limited.

When: Saturday, May 5, 2018 10:00AM-11:00AM An introduction to the play commences 15 minutes prior to curtain. Admission is free, seating is limited.

Much Ado About Nothing

Don Pedro and his fellow soldiers, Benedick and Claudio have returned from war and visit the estate of Leonato, Pedro’s friend. There, Claudio falls deeply in love with Leonato’s daughter, Hero, while Benedick rekindles an old friendship with Leonato’s niece Beatrice. The stage is set for the ultimate battle of wits to ensue, combined with some intrigue stirred up by Pedro’s bastard brother Don John.

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Timeline of the Newberry Library

1833	Walter Loomis Newberry moves to Chicago.
1868	Walter Loomis Newberry dies at sea.
1871	Great Chicago Fire destroys Newberry’s personal library.
1887	Bequest of about $2.2 million from Newberry’s estate founds the Newberry Library after all of Newberry’s immediate heirs pass away. Library founded with the requirement that it be a “free, public library.” William Frederick Poole named the Newberry’s first president and librarian.
1887	The Newberry first opens in a temporary building on La Salle Street.
1888	The Newberry moves to East Ontario Street, and two years later to Oak and State Streets.
1889	Count Pio Resse’s music library acquired. Originally consisting of 751 items, the music collections at the Newberry number at least 200,000 today.
1890	Henry Probasco’s library acquired. Probasco’s library contained many of the gems the Newberry is known for today, including the first Shakespeare Folio, many incunabula, and two Grolier bindings, among other treasures.
1892	The Newberry is officially incorporated.
1893	Building on West Walton finished; the library moves into its permanent home in November 1893.
1894	Poole dies. At the time of Poole’s death, the Newberry owned around 120,000 books and 44,000 pamphlets. John Vance Cheney becomes the Newberry’s second librarian, and brings with him Alexander J. Rudolph, his assistant. Rudolph invents Rudolph binders and Rudolph indexer catalogs. In-house bindery created.
1901	The Newberry acquires the Prince Louis Lucien Bonaparte collection in linguistics, an 18,000-item collection.
1909	W. N. C. Carlton becomes the third Newberry librarian. He does away with the Rudolph indexer.
1911	Edward E. Ayer, member of the first Board of Trustees, gives his collection of 14,000 printed and manuscript items to the library. In later years he will continue to add to it and give three endowed funds for its maintenance. Today it stands at more than 100,000 volumes.
1912	John M. Wing donates his personal collection on printing history to the Newberry, along with funds to expand this collection. It now contains more than 30,000 volumes and thousands of manuscript pages.
1920	George Burwell Utley named the fourth librarian at the Newberry.
1920s	Intensive collecting of incunabula begins, expanding to some 2,200 items today.
1930	Rare Book Room created.
1937	Newberry Trustee William B. Greenlee donates his Portuguese library.
1942	Stanley Pargellis becomes the Newberry’s fifth librarian. Pargellis is credited for broadening the scope of the library’s collections, as well as expanding scholarly and public programming.
1962	Lawrence W. Towner named the sixth Newberry librarian. Towner expands conservation and research programs.
1963	Special Collections department created.
1964	Purchase of Louis H. Silver collection. Newberry Trustee Everett D. Graff donates his personal library of Western Americana.
1964-65	First fundraising efforts for the Newberry, resulting in $1.5 million. First Newberry Library Seminar, centered on renaissance studies, takes place.
1971	Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography created, after a proposal from President Towner, who saw Italian map collections and wanted one at the Newberry. Center for Family and Community History, now known as the Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture, founded.
1972	D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies founded.
1975	Position of Vice President created, and James Wells named first vice president. Later, multiple Vice President offices were created to oversee departmental divisions. Conservation Department created through union of production binding and Conservation Laboratory.
1979	Newberry Library Center for Renaissance Studies founded through a National Endowment for the Humanities grant.
1982	Stack Building completed.
1985	Newberry Trustee Rudy Lamont Ruggles donates his library to the Newberry. First annual Book Fair held.
1986	Charles T. Cullen named president and librarian. Bughouse Square Debates begin in their current form.
1987	Exhibition and publication of Humanities Mirror marks the Newberry’s centennial.
1990	Newberry receives a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission to establish an archive of the library’s institutional records.
1994	Center for Public Programs created.
1998	Exterior of Newberry washed. The exterior, blackened with the city residue since its construction, was restored to its original color. A new, red tile roof was installed in 2008.
2003	The Time Traveler’s Wife, written by Audrey Niffenegger, hits bookstore shelves. The main character, Henry, is a time traveler who works at the Newberry.
2003	Queen Elizabeth I quadracentennial exhibition is the most visited in Newberry history.
2005	David Spadafora named president and librarian.
2007	National Medal for Library Service awarded to the Newberry by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
2012	125th Anniversary of the Newberry.