The Chicago Public Library turns 150 this year. And it’s no coincidence that just a couple years ago, the city celebrated the anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. 

“The period after the Great Fire in Chicago was a period of enormous development and innovation, and the library was definitely part of that story,” said Alison Cuddy, host of the podcast Library for the People: 150 years of Chicago Stories. 

The fire burned countless books in the city of Chicago, which did not have a public library at the time, but the system developed soon after. In this episode, we talk to Alison and CPL Commissioner Chris Brown about how the windy city got its public library system and its century-and-a-half of history since.