Prospect Public Library
Client Review on Prospect Public Library
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While, in all fairness, I am unable to assess this library in terms of its contents or on its overall merits as a library, architecturally it leaves much to be desired. The building "looks like a library" in that it has the typical "mushroom" shape characteristic of libraries in the Chicago suburbs (in which the lowest floor is smaller than upper floors, which overhang the entrance). I think Frank Lloyd Wright introduced that configuration for libraries, but don’t quote me on this... it seems like his style, but don't quote me on this! The Northbrook Public Library has essentially the same configuration except that Northbrook's library is a big, beautiful white building that actually looks very modern, almost futuristic. The key difference is that the entry level is built more or less at ground level, whereas the main floor of the Mount Prospect library is roughly at ground level. The parking lot and entry floor was built at the bottom of a disgusting mud hole.In either case, it looks like they expanded the façade, obscuring the Midwestern style library shape and further burying the parking lot and lowest floor. I guess the upgraded structure looks somewhat better, as much of Mount Prospect has been gentrified, from former Randhurst Mall to the "downtown" (around the Metra station) area. I remember Mt. Prospect being "more ghetto" when I lived there. I am sure they vastly improved everything about the library from expanding their collection to updating technology since I would last visit nearly 20 years ago. They should have just started all over, building a more conventional building or at least building a "mushroom library" from ground level like they did in Northbrook, rather than building over a disgusting mud hole. But this is Mount Prospect! An unimpressive library for an unimpressive municipality.
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