We collect, preserve, and provide access to community media in order to inspire and celebrate everyone's cultural contributions.

Read/Write Library is the only library of its kind in the world and seeks to be a model for other cities to leverage their own media as a tool to recognize their residents' power and expertise in shaping local histories.

Unlike a traditional read-only library, we encourage contributions, whether community newspapers, self-published chapbooks by young poets, or art books by tenured professors, making cultural participation more transparent and accessible. 

Through our public programs and free browsing hours, growing collection of over 6,000 publications, and open source catalog, the library strives to raise the visibility of work produced by Chicagoans of all backgrounds to reveal connective threads across neighborhoods, generations, and cultures and to encourage inquiry into and ownership of the historical record. 

We recognize the contributions that all community members make to co-creating a city and believe that learning to value them plays a vital role in building empathy, community pride, and the ability to see oneself as a change agent.

Read / Write Library Chicago

1048940678

Every.org is a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees they rely on the generosity of donors like you.

Choose a donation for Every.org

1258415673

1435915265

1737023302

We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

2074652487

240751341

2516130445

2547000601

2624895975

2883383521

339774024

3605944885

3755280456

3794356679

3868271524

3884515653

410756082

496574456

579816602

761293274

772217036

2729980760

3440869557

671754822

1014384873

1112422858

153399038

2028390811

220342792

2266630408

2456389719

2519810400

2539558839

2826465835

2843798242

2898624300

2916352438

3259439560

3583328878

3642494300

3902459442

4054861980

4136002033

4177183036

4250940449

585491400

641510716

91682487