PEORIA MAGAZINE April 2023

This is why, for the first time, several central Illinois libraries are joining together to form a Freedom to Read partnership, encouraging everyone to exercise their intellectual freedom. Get a library card. Read outside your comfort zone. Unite against book bans. To start, Klise and other authors who have faced censorship have been invited to come speak, but other events – panel discussions, screenings of banned books made into films, and more – will be promoted across all the partnering libraries from April through October, culminating in Banned Books Week, Oct. 1-7. ‘FREE COMMUNICATION IS ESSENTIAL TO THE PRESERVATION OF A FREE SOCIETY AND A CREATIVE CULTURE’ — Freedom to Read “We’ve been fortunate that our community recognizes and respects our commitment to building a collection that’s home to a wide range of ideas, issues and viewpoints,” said Peoria Public Library Executive Director Randall Yelverton. “Still, we’re always striving to shine a light on the tenets

of Freedom to Read, including that free communication is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture.” For more than 20 years, Peoria Public Library has hosted Peoria Reads, a citywide literary event inviting all residents to read the same book simultaneously. But this year, instead of one city and one book, Peoria Public Library has joined with sister libraries in Chillicothe, Dunlap, East Peoria (Fondulac), Metamora (Illinois Prairie), Morton and Pekin, along with longtime Peoria Reads partners Bradley University, Methodist College and Neighborhood House, to encourage everyone to read outside their comfort zone by choosing the challenged books of their choice. Instead of Peoria Reads, we are Central Illinois Reads. “The freedom to read brings forth the freedoms to learn, to communicate, and to engage in a democratic society. To deny anyone the freedom to read – to dictate that someone else should not have access to a book based on your opinion — is to deny them the choice to experience the ideas of others and the opportunity to develop opinions, knowledge and ideas of their own,” said Fondulac District Library Director Genna Buhr.

“Public libraries provide and promote access to books, thoughts, and ideas for everyone, regardless of their interests, beliefs or income, so that the freedom to read, to communicate, and to engage is sustained irrespective of ever changing and highly individual notions of what is acceptable, appropriate or offensive. Supporting the freedom to read does not necessarily mean supporting the content of the book or the author’s sentiments. Someone can vehemently disagree with a book and still support the freedom to read and access it.” Because, as Klise puts it, “When we talk about censorship and book banning in any form, we’re ultimately not talking about books.” To learn more about Central Illinois Reads: Freedom to Read and upcoming events, visit www.peoriapubliclibrary. org/central-illinois-reads.

Jennifer Davis is the manager of public relations at Peoria Public Library and a former journalist

Kick-off Event: Why Ban Books? with Dr. Emily Knox

Author Event: James Klise 2 p.m. Sunday, April 23, Peoria Public Library North Branch Free to the public. Registration requested, not required. Audience Q&A afterwards. Books available for sale and signing

6 p.m. Thursday, April 13, Main Peoria Public Library Free to the public. Registration requested, not required. Audience Q&A afterwards

Join us for an afternoon with Peoria native and now Chicago based novelist James Klise. The author of award-winning novels for young adults, Klise’s new historical novel, I’ll Take Everything You Have (Algonquin Young Readers), tells a queer coming-of-age crime story that Publishers Weekly calls “a mesmerizing snapshot of 1930s Chicago.” Klise will read briefly from the book, then join local author-librarian Joel Shoemaker on stage for a conversation about writing, research, book challenges and more.

Join us for an evening with Dr. Emily Knox, author of Book Banning in 21st Century and Foundations of Intellectual Freedom , the latter just published in 2022. Knox, an associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, serves on the board of the National Coalition Against Censorship. She also is the editor of the Journal of Intellectual Freedom and Privacy.

APRIL 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE 67