Founded in 1984, the Adult Reading Round Table is dedicated to developing readers' advisory skills and promoting reading for pleasure through public libraries.
Led by a steering committee of Illinois librarians, we plan and present RA training, in-depth genre studies, book discussion training, and other professional development opportunities for librarians and library staff.
Our steering committee also crafts the ARRT Popular Fiction List, a self-evaluative training tool testing RA knowledge.
We Believe That Black Lives Matter
We believe that Black Lives Matter and we stand in solidarity with Black Americans and especially with our Black colleagues. We see you.
As members of a profoundly White profession and as people who curate collections of books and put those titles into the hands of our communities, we acknowledge our privilege and commit to using our privilege to amplify the voices of Black authors.
We acknowledge that the time to say something was long ago and we recognize that this is not enough. We commit to doing the work to be an anti-racist organization.
Current Steering Committee Members
Jennifer Asimakopoulos, Chair
Wheaton Public Library
Emily Vinci, Past Chair
Schaumburg Township District Library
Karrie Stewart, Secretary
Algonquin Area Public Library District
Debbie Walsh, Treasurer
West Chicago Public Library
Layne Arens
Chicago Public Library
Samantha Bunte
Fox River Valley Public Library
Natalie DeJonghe
Westmont Public Library
Rachel Doose
Lincolnwood Public Library
Christi Hawn
Elmhurst Public Library
Mike Hominick
Palatine Public Library District
Elizabeth Hopkins
Lisle Library District
Sarah Kovac
La Grange Park Public Library
RK Knaur
Champaign Public Library
Kate Kuchler
Naperville Public Library
Matthew Matkowski
Palos Heights Public Library
Brenna Murphy
Skokie Public Library
Sarah Roots
Park Ridge Public Library
Rachel Rothe
Wilmette Public Library
Carrie Straka
Itasca Community Library
Rebecca Tietjen
Naperville Public Library
Courtney Rose Welsh
Helen M. Plum Memorial Library