CICS Northtown Academy Library

We are the proud home to one of the busiest school libraries in the city of Chicago!

Among the library’s resources, students can find newspapers, magazines, and 24 computers with Internet access and printing capability. CICS Northtown also boasts a large print collection—containing nearly 20,000 volumes including high-interest fiction, non-fiction, and graphic novels.

Online Access to the Library’s Main Catalog

library information

hours

The library is open five days a week during the school year: Monday – Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., except on those Wednesdays when there is a staff meeting. On those days, the library closes immediately after school.

Students may also use the library during Academic Lab periods; all they need to do is sign up in advance. The sign-up sheets can be found at the circulation desk every morning before school. The spots often fill quickly, so students are encouraged to sign up as early as possible.

Librarian

Mr. Jim Klise

Jklise@cicsnorthtown.org

rules

Materials may be checked out for one month and then renewed one time. Fines are charged for materials that are damaged or lost.

book club

Northtown’s monthly book club has met for 16 consecutive years, never skipping a month. The club has become so popular that students must apply to participate, and there is a waiting list.

Students who are interested in participating should see Mr. Klise.

"There is no more important homework than reading. Research shows that the highest achieving students are those who devote leisure time to reading, even when the school day and year are only mid-length and homework isn’t excessive. Recently, the largest-ever international study of reading found that the single most important predictor of academic success is the amount of time children spend reading books, more important even than economic or social status. And one of the few predictors of high achievement in math and science is the amount of time children devote to pleasure reading."

"...Shouldn't schools be the place where students interact with interesting books? Shouldn't the faculty have an ongoing laser-like commitment to put good books in our students' hands? Shouldn't this be a front burner issue at all times?"

"Sometimes you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book."

"Teenagers want to read--if we let them."