Harris Education Loan Center


NEW HOURS: Wednesday - Thursday: 1pm - 5pm; Friday: 10am - 5pm; Saturdays: 9am - 4pm; Closed: Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Holidays.
HARRIS REGISTRATION FEES: Harris Registration Fees: Individual teachers: $30 Home School teachers; parents and families: $60; Museum members $30. New! School group rates: Register 10-19 teachers: $20/teacher; Register 20 or more teachers: $15/teacher.
NEW! Additional Harris Loan Locations The benefits of The Field Museum's Harris Educational Loan Center are now accessible for educators in: Limestone Township Library 2701 W. Tower Road Kankakee, IL 60901 815.939.1696. Friends of Ryerson Woods 21850 N. Riverwoods Road Deerfield, IL 60015 847.968.3344. National-Louis University Lisle Campus For NLU Lisle students only.
NEW! PARENTS’ CUSTOMIZED IN-SERVICES: Looking for a way to involve your students’ parents? Schedule a Harris in-service and your parents group can learn how to use our dynamic Harris Loan materials to reinforce their children’s learning in their homes. Two hour workshops are available Wednesday-Saturday, time vary. $10 per parent. Call 312.665.7555
Celebrate Native American Month Experience Boxes: Woodland People's Shelter, Woodland Beadwork and Quillwork, Woodland Basketry Birchbark and Weaving, Northwest Coast Religion and Ceremony, Woodcarving and Weaving, Native Games, Fishing in the America's, Hopi Life and Eskimo's Daily Life. Exhibit Cases: Useful Plants( plants used for medicine, dyes, food and beadwork) Several owl cases. We also have animals used in Native folktales such as the fox, crow, hawks and beaver. We also have mammals the Native People used for beadwork and quillwork such as the porcupine.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Harris Educational Loan Program! Whether you are a long-time borrower of Harris materials or just now are becoming aware of the program, you will find the Harris Loan Program to be a valuable educational resource for your classroom or your home. The Harris Loan Program has been serving Chicago-area educators and families for over 85 years. Originally funded through an endowment from Norman Wait Harris in 1911, the Harris Educational Loan Program links The Field Museum with Chicago-area schools. Thousands of loans are made to classroom educators, informal educators and parents each year. Tens of thousands of children benefit from the program. We offer four types of educational media from which to choose.

Exhibit Cases: We have nearly 900 Exhibit Case dioramas (24" high, 22" wide , and 7" deep) that show plants and animals in natural settings. A pullout label on the side of each case has basic information.

Experience Boxes: We cover more than 70 different topics with these portable collections of artifacts, replicas, specimens, and many other resources to provide a broad variety of learning experiences. There are three content categories: culture, biology, and earth sciences.

Audiovisual Materials: Audiovisual materials include slide sets with printed scripts, videotapes, and film strips with audio cassette tapes.

Children's Books: More than 100 titles are available.

How to Become A Registered Borrower
Parents, teachers and informal educators are welcome to use Harris Loan materials.

Harris Loan Events
Educator in-services and family open houses are scheduled throughout the year.