After announcing its achievement of renting out more than one million items to residents in 2025, the Robbins Library has revealed the name of its 2026 Arlington Reads Together (ART) novel; Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. The 23rd annual community reading experience returns this March.
The library requested nominations for this year’s ART title back in the summer of 2025, seeking selections that initiated conversation and engagement with fellow readers. This year’s pick is a science fiction novel published in 2021 about a solar-powered “artificial friend” that observes human behavior and hopes to be chosen by a child. The book explores the fundamental question; what does it mean to be human?
“With the rise of generative [Artificial Intelligence], the time is right for us to read a book that asks us to delve into questions of machines, humans, and where the boundaries lie,” said Library Director Anna Litten.
“We hope that this book will be a great launchpad for important discussions in Arlington.”
Klara and the Sun was long listed for the 2021 Booker Prize, the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for
Excellence in Fiction, and selected for The Washington Post’s “10 Best Books of 2021” list,
according to the Robbins library.
Beginning this spring, the library will host ART events such as presentations on identifying AI and its presence in everyday life, book discussions, movie showings, art projects and more. The library has planned an interactive display for this reading season, which will offer library visitors an opportunity to share their thoughts on the book.
A full schedule of events will soon be published to the library website.
Those interested in participating in this year’s ART can pick up a copy of the novel at Robbins or Fox branch libraries. The title is also available as a digital download via Libby.
2025’s selection for the reading series was Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt — the title was the library’s second most popular book that year.
This news item, published on Jan. 20, 2026, was written using information provided by Robbins Library.
