designed as “a select affair” for “the better and cleaner classes,” the Chicago Times wrote with approval when the Newberry first opened. It was an imposing five-story building of tan granite blocks. All visitors had to fill out a slip stating the purpose of their research and they were turned away if they could not specify a topic. The books, available for reference only, were shelved in reading rooms modeled after the home libraries of wealthy gentlemen, cozy and intimate spaces
