ðə ɹˈiːd slˈæʃ ɹˈaɪt lˈaɪbɹɛɹi ɪz "ɐ ɹᵻpˈɑːzɪtˌoːɹi ʌv pˈæmflɪts, zˈiːnz, kəmjˈuːnᵻɾi plˈænz, ˈoːɹəl hˈɪstɚɹiz, nˈeɪbɚhˌʊd nˈuːzpeɪpɚz, lˈɪɾɚɹˌɛɹi mˌæɡɐzˈiːnz fɹʌm sˌiːpˌiːˈɛs skˈuːlz ænd stˈeɪt pɹˈɪzənz, pˈæɹɪʃtʃˈɜːtʃ ænd sˈɛɾəlmənthˈaʊs kˈʊkbʊks, sˈɛlfpˈʌblɪʃt pˈoʊɪtɹi ænd nˈɑːvəlz, ænd ˈʌðɚɹ ɪfˈɛmɚɹə ðˈæt, tˈeɪkən təɡˈɛðɚ, tˈɛlz ðə stˈoːɹi ʌv ʃᵻkˈɑːɡoʊ baɪ ʃᵻkˈɑːɡoʊənz ɪn ðɛɹ ˈoʊn wˈɜːdz, nˌɑːt fˈɪltɚd θɹuː ðə pɚspˈɛktɪvz ʌv ˌækədˈɛmɪks ɔːɹ dʒˈɜːnəlˌɪsts.
The Read/Write Library is "a repository of pamphlets, zines, community plans, oral histories, neighborhood newspapers, literary magazines from CPS schools and state prisons, parish-church and settlement-house cookbooks, self-published poetry and novels, and other ephemera that, taken together, tells the story of Chicago by Chicagoans in their own words, not filtered through the perspectives of academics or journalists.