Illinois Libraries Present

Slowing Down with Amy Tan 
Wednesday, February 19, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. 
Join us on Zoom. 

National Humanities Medal winner and bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan joins us to share on her body of work and reflect on the wonder of slowing down and savoring the quiet moments. Her connection to nature is captured in her latest, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, a collection of sketches and essays which debuted at #1 on both the New York Times and the Indie bestseller list. 

Born in the U.S. to immigrant parents from China, Tan’s first bestselling novel, The Joy Luck Club, offered a look at the immigration experience from the perspective of mothers and daughters. Other New York Times best-sellers followed, including The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Saving Fish from Drowning, and The Valley of Amazement. Tan is also the author of two children’s books, a memoir, and other works. In keeping with her love of science and childhood love of doodling, she recently took up nature journal sketching. When she found herself overwhelmed by our increasingly divisive culture, she turned to nature and the world of bird life outside her own window. 

These events are made possible by Illinois Libraries Present (ILP), a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events. ILP is funded in part by a grant 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). 

ILP is committed to inclusion and accessibility. To request accommodations, please email illinoislibrariespresent@gmail.com.

Exploring Space with Coralie Adam  
Tuesday, March 4 , 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.    
Born and raised in Illinois, Coralie holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering and Astronomy from the University of Illinois, and an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado. She leads the multi-mission Optical Navigation team at KinetX Aerospace, the first privately held company to provide deep space navigation and flight dynamics expertise to NASA. At KinetX, Coralie has had lead roles on the navigation teams for NASA’s New Horizons, OSIRIS-REx, Lucy, and OSIRIS-APEX missions. Coralie’s work enabled the first exploration of the Pluto system and the historic sample collection of near-Earth asteroid Bennu. 

In addition to leading the OSIRIS-REx optical navigation team, she co-convened the scientific investigation of Bennu’s active particle ejection phenomena. Coralie is currently the Deputy Navigation Chief on NASA’s Lucy mission to the Jupiter Trojan asteroids, as well as supporting several commercial and government exploration initiatives to the moon and beyond.

Documentary Screening: 9to5: The Story of a Movement  
Friday, March 21, 7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Watch the award winning documentary from the comfort of your home! The documentary highlights the creation of the 9to5 movement, established to fight for workplace equity and against wage discrepancy and was the basis for the feature film, 9 to 5, starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin. 

In the early 1970s, secretaries in Boston decided to fight against humiliating, harassing and illegal work environments. Their movement became national and is a largely forgotten story of U.S. twentieth century history. Director Julia Reichert was an Academy Award and Emmy Award winning documentarian. 

The Art of Foraging with Alexis Nikole Nelson  
Wednesday, April 10, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.    
Alexis Nikole Nelson is a forager and an outdoor educator using her platforms, TikTok account alexisnikole and Instagram page blackforager, to celebrate all the edible plants hiding in plain sight. She peels back historical layers on African American and Indigenous food traditions that have traditionally been repressed and empowers those living in food deserts with greater self- sufficiency.

Nelson received the James Beard Award for “Best Social Media” 2022, was chosen for the Forbes 30 Under 30 list and as a TikTok Tastemaker, and was honored as part of Fortune Magazine’s Creator 25 in 2021. Nelson gave a TED Talk in 2022 and in 2023 joined the YouTube channel Crash Course to host a 15-episode botany series.

Alexis Nikole Nelson will be joined in conversation with Natalie Evans, a wild edible foods instructor. 

Art and Adventures with Author/Illustrator Dan Santat (Youth Program)  
Saturday, May 3, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.   
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.

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.

Poverty: A Discussion with Matthew Desmond  
Tuesday, May 13, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.  
Join us to close out our fourth season with bestselling author Matthew Desmond in conversation with award-winning journalist, Natalie Moore. 

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.

These events are made possible by Illinois Libraries Present, a statewide collaboration among public libraries offering premier events.