The exhibit Pick Up a Book! WPA Posters Promoting Reading, 1935-1943 is on display through September 2020 in the Exhibit Hall on the 3rd floor of Harold Washington Library Center.
The Works Progress Administration was one of the federally funded labor programs created in 1933 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. To promote reading, the WPA asked artists to create posters depicting the importance of books, reading and visits to your library. Chicago Public Library was the subject of some of these posters.
Pick Up a Book! WPA Posters Promoting Reading, 1935-1943 presents a selection of WPA artists' poster designs from the Library of Congress, and examples of additional resources available at CPL about the WPA.
Recommended Reading
Works Progress Administration: Learn about the New Deal, the Works Progress (Projects) Administration, and other federal initiatives of the 1930s and 1940s in Chicago and beyond.
