Eggsaucted has pointed out to me that this is Chicago Archives Week. Given all the time I spend in archives, I should probably baking cakes for all my favorite librarians in gratitude for their selfless service in one of the world�s most invisible professions � after all, why else would they need an official mayoral proclamation to recognize a week dedicated to helping others know that they exist?

Instead, however, I will offer them public recognition here, along with links to a few of my favorite archives (from Chicago and elsewhere). Support your local librarian! Read an old book! Or perhaps just purchase your very own librarian action figure. With amazing push-button shushing action! (She would have gotten along great with the G.I. Joe with �Kung-Fu grip� I used to play with as a kid)

My favorite archives

Newberry Library. This one has the best reading room, with enormous windows overlooking a park. If you want to spend money on something besides copies, it also has a small branch of Hyde Park's famed Seminary Coop bookstore on the first floor. And its downtown location means there are plenty of things to do afterwards to recuperate from staring at small, faded print for hours at a time. Obscure fact: The stacks are closed, like most archives, but if you ever get yourself a tour of them, they'll tell you about how when the fire alarm goes off, instead of turning on a sprinkler, which would damage the books, they hermetically seal the room and pump all the air out. This information gave me nightmares, and I still think it would be an excellent setting for a murder mystery.

Chicago Historical Society. When I first started hanging out here, it was my favorite place to work. The room with the stuff I needed looked like someone's fancy living room, with a big grandfather clock in one corner and walls lined with wooden bookshelves packed with old phone books and copies of Who's Who. Now the reading room is big, busy, and windowless, but the collections are peerless and the librarians are incredibly well informed. Bonus feature: The archives are on the third floor of the Chicago Historical Society Museum and you can get into the museum free to do research.

Boston Public Library Special Collections. This one has the most obscure rules and dictatorial librarians, but it's in the central branch of the Boston Public Library, which is a great building, and the collections are great. Most mysterious regulation: Apparently for certain portions of the collection dealing with Boston, you need either a letter of reference (this is common for private libraries but most unusual for public ones) or a Boston public library card. The first time I went there, I arrived without a letter of reference -- no one had mentioned it to me when I made my appointment. Fortunately, I still had my Boston Public Library card from when I'd lived in Somerville a squillion years before. Apparently, you can have a Boston Public Library card if you've ever lived in Boston. They updated my address in the computer and I was good to go.

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Best archive for people watching (I swear every day I've been there at least one crazy person has approached the main desk and asked for info on Jerry Garcia). Its reading room is well equipped for computers, although it's mighty small for the number of people who use it. The head librarian of special collections is my idol. He knows everything. And they are wonderfully quick about getting you materials. Pertinent Info: The library's in Lincoln center, conveniently located for concert-going or park-wandering.

Library of Congress. I'll admit, I've never been to this one in person, although I aspire to. But their website kicks ass, especially on American history subjects. I highly recommend wandering around it for a while.Interesting fact (probably-true, although I can't seem to find verification): A copy of every book published in the United States is deposited here.

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