Great Books Foundation

The Great Books Foundation is an independent nonprofit educational organization based in Chicago, Illinois. It develops and publishes collections of classic and modern literature, along with instructional materials and professional learning, to support guided reading and discussion among children, students, educators, adults, and community book groups. The foundation was established in 1947 during a period when liberal education and public access to serious literature were being promoted as important parts of democratic and civic life. The founding effort was led by Robert Maynard Hutchins, then chancellor of the University of Chicago, and Mortimer Adler, a philosopher and advocate of broad-based education. Rather than operating as a conventional commercial publisher, the organization was created to make sustained engagement with important texts more accessible beyond elite university settings. Its early leadership reflected a broad coalition of university administrators, publishers, business leaders, journalists, and writers. The organization’s work is organized principally around two program areas. Junior Great Books serves learners from kindergarten through high school. It uses carefully selected literary and informational texts, teacher resources, and classroom discussion practices to develop reading comprehension, interpretation, listening, speaking, and evidence-based reasoning. The program is intended to make discussion of complex texts a regular part of instruction rather than an activity reserved for advanced students. Great Books Discussion serves college students, adult learners, continuing-education participants, and book groups. It provides texts and guidance for groups that want to explore literature and ideas through sustained conversation. A defining feature of the foundation’s approach is Shared Inquiry. In this method, a leader begins with an open-ended question about the meaning of a text and guides participants through follow-up questions. The leader is not expected to possess a predetermined answer to the central question. Instead, participants examine the text together, compare interpretations, and develop their conclusions through attentive reading and discussion. The method has similarities to Socratic dialogue, but the foundation distinguishes it by emphasizing inquiry into an interpretive question whose answer is not already known by the discussion leader. The foundation’s activities combine publishing, program development, educator support, and discussion facilitation. Its income has historically come from sales of books and instructional collections, fees for teacher professional development, contributions, and grants. The organization therefore functions both as a publisher of educational content and as a provider of methods and services for schools and reading communities. In 1960, the foundation expanded its original adult-oriented mission to children through the launch of Junior Great Books. This became one of its most recognizable program lines and extended the organization’s discussion-centered philosophy into primary and secondary education. From 2001 to 2011, the foundation also published The Common Review, a quarterly magazine devoted to literary and intellectual culture. The foundation remains associated with the broader Great Books tradition while maintaining its own emphasis on accessible, facilitated inquiry rather than simply assembling a canon of texts.

The Great Books Foundation emerged from the mid-twentieth-century movement to make serious reading and liberal education available to a broad public. It was founded in 1947 by civic, academic, publishing, and literary figures led by Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler. Hutchins, associated with the University of Chicago, and Adler, a philosopher and advocate of the Great Books tradition, sought to encourage ordinary adults to engage directly with important works rather than treating liberal education as the exclusive preserve of universities. The foundation’s early structure reflected that public-education ambition. In 1949, its board included Hutchins and Adler as well as John J. Cavanaugh, Elkan Harrison Powell, Garret L. Bergen, Norman Cousins, Clifton Fadiman, and Clare Boothe Luce. Their backgrounds spanned higher education, reference publishing, business, journalism, and literature. This breadth helped position the foundation as an educational and civic organization rather than merely a bookseller or academic department. Its original work centered on collections of literature and organized discussion for adults. The foundation’s method developed into Shared Inquiry, a facilitated form of close reading in which participants investigate an open-ended interpretive question. A leader asks follow-up questions and keeps the conversation connected to the text, but does not present a settled answer to the main question. Participants are expected to listen carefully, explain their reasoning, consider competing interpretations, and revise their views when the text warrants it. The approach is related to Socratic discussion but places particular emphasis on the leader’s genuine uncertainty about the answer. In 1960, the foundation extended this mission to younger readers with the introduction of Junior Great Books. The program brought selected literature, discussion structures, and teacher support into elementary and secondary education, eventually covering learners from kindergarten through high school. Its expansion reflected the belief that interpretive reading and serious conversation could begin early and should not be postponed until college. Over time, the organization developed two main program families. Junior Great Books supports school-based reading and discussion, while Great Books Discussion serves colleges, continuing-education programs, adult learners, and informal book groups. Alongside text collections, the foundation provides implementation guidance and professional development intended to help educators and discussion leaders use Shared Inquiry effectively. The foundation has supported its work through a combination of publication sales, professional-development fees, contributions, and grants. This mixed model reflects its dual role as a nonprofit educational institution and a publisher of program materials. From 2001 through 2011, it also published The Common Review, a quarterly magazine that extended its interest in literature, ideas, and intellectual culture beyond its core discussion programs. The Great Books Foundation remains distinct from the broader, loosely defined Great Books movement. Its institutional contribution is the creation of usable curricula, text collections, and facilitation practices that translate close reading and liberal-arts discussion into repeatable experiences for classrooms and adult groups.

• 2011

  The Common Review ends publication

  [1]Great Books Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  Publication of The Common Review concluded after a ten-year run.

• 2001

  The Common Review begins publication

  [1]Great Books Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation began publishing The Common Review, a quarterly magazine that continued through 2011.

• 1960

  Junior Great Books introduced

  [1]Great Books Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation expanded its audience to children by introducing Junior Great Books for school-age readers.

• 1949

  Initial board formed

  [1]Great Books Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The foundation formed a board that included university, publishing, business, journalism, and literary figures such as Hutchins, Adler, John J. Cavanaugh, Elkan Harrison Powell, Garret L. Bergen, Norman Cousins, Clifton Fadiman, and Clare Boothe Luce.

• 1947

  Foundation established

  [1]Great Books Foundationen.wikipedia.org

  The Great Books Foundation was established in Chicago by a group led by Robert Maynard Hutchins and Mortimer Adler to promote continuing liberal education through reading and discussion.

A nonprofit educational publisher and professional-learning organization focused on close reading, interpretation, and inclusive discussion of significant literature and ideas.

• K–12 literacy and discussion program · 1960

  Junior Great Books

  Junior Great Books is the foundation’s school-focused program for students from kindergarten through high school. It combines selected classic and modern literature with teacher guides, discussion prompts, and a structured Shared Inquiry process. The program is designed to strengthen comprehension and interpretation while also developing listening, speaking, reasoning, and collaborative learning habits. Its central classroom activity is discussion grounded in the words and details of the text, enabling students to compare interpretations rather than simply produce predetermined answers.

• Adult, college, and book-group discussion program

  Great Books Discussion

  Great Books Discussion provides literature-based materials and discussion support for college students, continuing-education participants, adult learners, and independent book groups. The offering is built around sustained examination of literary and intellectual texts. Facilitators use open-ended questions and follow-up inquiry to keep the group focused on interpretation and textual evidence. The program extends the foundation’s original public-education mission beyond formal school settings and gives communities a repeatable format for serious conversation.

• Discussion and facilitation method

  Shared Inquiry

  Shared Inquiry is the Great Books Foundation’s distinctive discussion method. A leader introduces an open-ended question about the meaning of a selection, then uses follow-up questions to help participants test and refine their interpretations. Unlike a discussion in which the facilitator knows and delivers the intended answer, Shared Inquiry requires the leader to approach the central interpretive question without a fixed conclusion. The method combines close reading, attentive listening, reasoned disagreement, and collaborative inquiry.

• Literary and intellectual magazine · 2001

  The Common Review

  The Common Review was a quarterly magazine published by the Great Books Foundation from 2001 through 2011. It broadened the organization’s publishing activity beyond classroom and discussion collections by presenting material connected with literature, ideas, and intellectual culture. The periodical is a historical offering rather than a current program.

1. 1Great Books Foundationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Great Books Foundation official websitegreatbooks.org