When an architectural study showed that the mansion could not handle a
third expansion without costly structural work, the City Council,
library board and Park District hammered out a land swap in which the Park District gave the city and
library 27,000 square feet of land at Prospect Street
near the Elmhurst Art Museum in exchange for 52,000 square feet of land on the north and south sides of the mansion.
Every year, with
near - perfect accuracy, a librarian working in a university
library would predict which
third - year undergraduates would be awarded first - class degrees.