Self-published authors from Chicago, Illinois, US have good opportunities for discoverability at the Glen Ellyn Public Library in Illinois. The library houses a compilation of books written by Chicago-area authors, as well as books about the city.
The books can be found in the Emerging Author Collection, launched in January 2015 to introduce library visitors to new books.
If you wish to be listed, you must be a local author, or your book must be about Chicago. Your book(s) also “need to be of general interest to the Glen Ellyn community and must be suitable for circulation—i.e., no stapled manuscripts or loose pages.” Standard book reviews aren’t considered to determine book eligibility. Library staffers submit the books to the library’s online catalog and track their circulation. The collection has 38 titles to date. Moreover, the collection prioritizes self-published titles.
Glenn Ellyn’s adult department director Susan DeRonne noted that this initiative is a big help to the local authors and the community. “Authors want to be read, and the community deserves access to this growing field of information and entertainment,” she stressed. She also hopes to complement the collection with electronic self-published titles in the future.