Press
Chicago Reader
We need the Read/Write Library now more than ever January 11, 2017
Aimee Levitt delves into our first 10 years and how we're adapting as an organization to prepare for the next 10 in the wake of the 2016 election.
StoryStudio Chicago
Off the Well-Read Path: Chicago’s Specialty and Obscure Libraries April 19, 2016
Maria Hlohowskyj explores Chicago's hidden library gems for StoryStudio.
Gapers Block
Read/Write Library Rewrites Wicker Park in New Pop-Up November 13, 2015
Gapers Block visits Rewritable Wicker Park, our Pop Up Library encouraging residents past and present to reshape the neighborhood narrative with their publications.
Atlas Obscura
Secret Libraries of Chicago February 17, 2015
No need to shhh... these libraries don't need to be a secret and there's no password required.
Chicago Reader
Winner of the "Best Library Sans Will Shakespeare"
Read/Write Library named a Best of Chicago 2014
Places Journal
Marginalia: Little Libraries in the Urban Margins May 2012
Shannon Mattern writes about the variety of "self-organized" libraries springing up in cities.
Flavorwire
Tiny Libraries, DIY Reading Rooms, and Other Micro Book Depots February 29, 2012
Alison Nastasi takes readers to a dozen micro libraries across the US.
The New York Times
An Unusual Library Finds a New Home November 12, 2011
Juan-Pablo Velez talks to friends and supporters of Read/Write Library our efforts to preserve media others ignore.
WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
Chicago alternative library saves printed material otherwise lost in the shuffle November 9, 2011
Lynette Kalsnes reports on the opening of our new library in Humboldt Park and meets our volunteers (including Harold the cat) for NPR's All Things Considered.
Gozamos
Chicago Underground Library: The Next Social Network? August 22, 2011
Corey Nuffer looks at our transition for Chicago Underground Library to Read/Write Library and talks politics, networks and media futures. We blush.
TimeOut Chicago
Read/Write Library June 24, 2011
Books editor Jonathan Messinger introduces our new name, Read/Write Library.
Gapers Block
The Chicago Underground Library Lives and Thrives June 24, 2011
The Book Club's Rose Lannin interviews Nell Taylor at Comfort Station's Pop Up Library.
Newcity
Weathering the Storm: How the Chicago Underground Library rises, again and again June 6, 2011
Elizabeth Kossnar visits our Pop Up Libraries and revisits our tumultuous five years, from blizzards to flesh eating bacteria.
Chicagoist
Chicago Underground Library Weathers the Storm May 12, 2011
Chicagoist's Betsy Mikel checks in on the first Pop Up Library at Comfort Station in Logan Square following the February blizzard.
Shareable
Community Museums & Museum Communities
October 24, 2010
Nina Simon looks at ten participatory museums redefining how the public engages culture.
Museum 2.0
Museum 2.0: Guest Post: Nell Taylor on the Chicago Underground Library August 8, 2010
CUL Executive Director Nell Taylor guest posts on Nina Simon’s Museum 2.0 blog about the library, its awesome volunteers, and using local media archives to build community.
Chicago Teachable Moments Examiner
The Chicago Underground Library — gatekeeper as colleague, & a special collections scavenger hunt July 31, 2010
Recently Dan Godston spoke with CUL founder and director Nell Taylor about nontraditional library models, the idea of the gatekeeper as colleague and collaborator, Pop Up Libraries, the freeform radio station WFMU, View-Master reels of Chicago motels and hot dog stands, and finding value in things that are overlooked.
The Chicago Underground Library: not your daddy’s library
Justine Jablonska, Medill, March 18, 2010
The Chicago Underground Library: not your daddy’s library from Justine Jablonska on Vimeo.
Columbia Chronicle
Library finds new home above ground March 8, 2010
Luke Wilusz impressively makes it through an entire Chicago Underground Library volunteer meeting without getting sucked into any conversations about Obscurity Meters, Magma Levels, or Synesthesia Buttons.
The Blog That Works
Underground February 28, 2010
Michael Carwile stops in to chat with us for the Chicago Studies Blog of the University of Chicago on his way back from the zoo. Lakeview is still novel to us, so if you show up and we’re not here, check the sea lion enclosure.
Time Out Chicago
Moving on up: The Chicago Underground Library gets an apartment in the sky. Issue 259: Feb 11–17, 2010
Jonathan Messinger covers our new Storefront Theater Project. A month later, we’re still the second most-viewed story in the books section, second only to one titled “Escort Service.” Nice.
The New York Times
Looks Like a Library, but No Best Sellers January 1, 2010
Lori Rotenberk kicks off 2010 with news of our grand reopening at Red Tape Theatre, January 16th!
Chicagoist
A New Flavor Of A Community Library January 28, 2010
Betsy Mikel talks to Chicago Underground Library about our reopening and community meeting as we “aim to be a memory jogger, community builder, and self-perpetuating growing organism.”
The New Yorker: The Book Bench
In the News: Cell-Phone Erotica, Frigid Poets December 15, 2008
Victoria Loustalot sandwiches us in between Amos Oz and the Poetry Polar Bear Club of Washington State, which seems very appropriate somehow.
Chicago Tribune
Library of obscure Chicago literature opens December 13, 2008
Robert K. Elder explores highlights from the Chicago Underground Library’s collection, including Boraxx, Gwendolyn Brooks, and erotic feminist poetry from the 1930s.
TimeOut Chicago
Tome Sweet Tome: Underground Library Reopens December 11-17, 2008
Jake Malooley interviews Nell about the CUL reopening while she hunts for a stapler at a drugstore in Florida.
Bookforum
European literature, art in the ancient world and books August 3, 2007
We assume we fall under “books.”
Newcity Chicago
The Indie Files: How Chicago Underground Library catalogues a cultural moment July 31, 2007
Maude Standish spends more time than anyone should hanging out in the basement of MoJoe’s Coffeehouse with the CUL and friends.
Chicagoist
Interview: Nell Taylor and Emerson Dameron, Founders of Chicago Underground Library April 5, 2007
Keidra Chaney interviews the librarians. The librarians have awesome hats.
Outside the Loop Radio
OTL: Episode #117 w/ Nell Taylor December 19, 2008
Mike Stephen catches up with the CUL during the opening at the Orientation Center.
Chi-Town Daily News
Group aims to raise profile of underground literature February 9, 2006
Kristin Brown gets deep into the psychology of the CUL. Maybe it has to do with the long Chicago winters.
Green Lantern
An Interview with the Chicago Underground Library Part 1, Part 2 January 20, 2009
Rachel Shine interviews Nell Taylor and programming goddess Stephanie Acosta about the CUL.
Notes from the Chicago Underground Library September 30, 2008
Nell’s essay on details as city beautification and community builders, originally published in Green Lantern and ThreeWalls’ Phonebook 2007-2008.
Chicago Writers Association: Windy City Writers
Interview with Chicago Underground Librarians Nell Taylor and Emerson Dameron Originally published 2007
Chicago Writers Association President Randy Richardson interviews Nell and Emerson.
