Chicago Area Great Books Council

The Chicago Area Great Books Council (CAGBC) can direct you to over 40 Great Books groups in Chicago and surrounding suburbs. Groups meet in libraries, bookstores, churches, schools, and members’ homes. Each group sets its own schedule and reading list. Most meet monthly, and discussions typically last 90 minutes to two hours. Groups read a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, primarily from the western classical tradition, but also including non-western and high quality contemporary works. Most groups read from anthologies published by the Great Books Foundation.

The CAGBC can help you find a group or start one of your own. For information about joining a group in the Chicago area, please contact us at chicago@greatbooksdiscussionprograms.org.

Great Books groups in the Chicago area:

Chicago —

Downtown, Near North, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Rogers Park, Far Northwest, Hyde Park, Far South

Suburbs —

• Oak Lawn
• Homewood
• Flossmoor
• LaGrange
• Oak Park
• River Forest
• Naperville
• Wheaton
• Hoffman Estates
• Palatine
• Arlington Heights
• Elgin
• Crystal Lake
• Bartlett
• Barrington
• Geneva
• Evanston
• Skokie
• Wilmette
• Glencoe
• Northbrook
• Lake Forest
• Wauconda
• Libertyville
• Gurnee