Honoree Walter Isaacson (left) with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and former U.S. Senator Adlai Stevenson

It was a dark and stormy night, more suited to staying home and reading than going to a gala.

Yet Wednesday evening, 690 book lovers ventured to the UIC Forum for the Chicago Public Library Foundation’s 13th annual Carl Sandburg Literary Awards dinner. They were there to meet — and get books from — 67 authors who live in or have ties to Chicago. They also were there to listen to National Public Radio host Scott Simon interview this year’s Carl Sandburg Literary Award winners, Don DeLillo and Walter Isaacson.

Even with cocktails and cocktail dresses aplenty, the evening felt a little bookish, a little more serious than most galas. There was no dancing or live auction.

“With all modesty, there’s a little bit of intellectual heft to this,” said Rhona Frazin, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Public Library Foundation. “People come away from this a little bit smarter.”

The foundation spends a year rounding up enough authors to fill the evening’s promise of a writer at every table. “It’s determination and everyone’s digging into their Rolodexes,” Ms. Frazin said. (Authors donate their time and books to the event, and the foundation covers some travel expenses, she said.)

The evening began with a VIP reception for authors and big donors; Mr. Isaacson and Mr. DeLillo mingled amiably, though the notoriously reclusive Mr. DeLillo declined to be photographed. Hors d’oeuvres were presented on plastic-covered books; servers passing them wore T-shirts that described what they were serving.

At dinner, the 67 authors paraded on to the stage, all introduced — by name and bio — by emcee Bill Kurtis. After remarks by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and new Public Library Commissioner Brian Bannon, authors left the stage to sit with dinner guests. The matchups were not random: For instance, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Bruce Norris, who has a long association with Steppenwolf Theater Company, sat with Steppenwolf Artistic Director Martha Lavey and former Steppenwolf board Chairman Bruce Sagan.

Mr. Simon’s interview with Messrs. Isaacson and DeLillo followed; the conversation turned a bit esoteric as the two discussed literary devices and their writing instruments of choice (a computer for Mr. Isaacson, Olympia typewriter for Mr. DeLillo). Mr. DeLillo likes the look of type on a page: “It occurs to me that the alphabet is an art,” he said.

The gala raised a record $1.5 million for the Chicago Public Library Foundation.