These events are made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration between public libraries offering high-quality events. Illinois Libraries Present is committed to inclusion and accessibility. To request accommodations, please email illinoislibrariespresent[at]gmail.com.
Funding for this grant was awarded by the Illinois State Library, a Department of the Office of Secretary of State, using funds provided by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services, under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA).
Art and Adventures with Author/Illustrator Dan Santat
Saturday, May 3, 2-3 pm
Zoom. Join bestselling author and illustrator Dan Santat for an afternoon event all about books and art with friend and collaborator, author Minh Lê.
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Dan Santat is the author and illustrator of over a hundred books for young people! Many of his books are New York Times-bestsellers, including The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend, Are We There Yet?, and After the Fall (How Humpty Dumpty Got Back Up Again). His latest works include the best-selling graphic novels The Aquanaut and A First Time for Everything. He is also the creator of the Disney animated hit The Replacements. Santat won the Caldecott Medal for most distinguished picture book in 2015, the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature in 2023 and Golden Kite Award for Middle Grade Fiction in 2024.
Minh Lê is the award-winning author of picture books including Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature), The Blur (with Dan Sanat!), Real to Me, Lift, and graphic novels such as Green Lantern: Legacy and Enlighten Me.
Poverty: A Discussion with Matthew Desmond
Tuesday, May 13, 7-8 pm
Zoom. Join us to close out our fourth season with bestselling author Matthew Desmond in conversation with award-winning journalist Natalie Moore.
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Desmond is a professor of sociology at Princeton University and author of the award-winning book, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. The recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, Desmond was named one of “fifty people across the country who are most influencing the national political debate” by Politico 50 in 2016. His research focuses on poverty in the United States, city life, housing insecurity, public policy, racial inequality, and ethnography.
Natalie Moore is an award-winning journalist based in Chicago, whose reporting tackles race, housing, economic development, food injustice and violence. She is the author of the acclaimed The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation and co-author of The Almighty Black P Stone Nation: The Rise, Fall and Resurgence of an American Gang. Moore is the recipient of Chicago Library Foundation’s 21st Century Award and a Studs Terkel Community Media Award among many others. Her work has helped shift the way Chicagoans today think about segregation in the region.