Illinois Libraries Present

Illinois Libraries Present provides high-quality online events at equitable prices for participating Illinois public member libraries of all sizes and budgets. We connect communities and audiences across the state through shared event experiences.

ILP is committed to inclusion and accessibility. American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation and Closed Captioning are provided for all events by default—no special request needed. To request accommodations not listed, please email illinoislibrariespresent@ila.org.

Season 6 Event Preview

Illinois Libraries Present virtual programs begin season 6 (September 2026–May 2027) in the Fall. More info coming soon!

Inside the Empire of AI with Karen Hao

Thursday, September 17, 2026

Join a timely conversation with Karen Hao, award-winning journalist and author of Inside the Empire of AI. In this virtual event, Hao will explore the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, the social, political, and ethical questions surrounding AI development today, and the questions posed in her work – Will AI produce broad-based societal benefit for all? Or return us to an age of empire? The path forward is in our hands. Whether you’re excited about AI, cautious about it, or just trying to understand the hype, this event offers an accessible look at one of today’s biggest technological shifts.

Karen Hao is the instant New York Times bestselling author of Empire of AI and named one of the most influential people in AI by Time. She is lead designer of the Pulitzer Center’s AI Spotlight series as well as co-host of BBC’s podcast, The Interface. The first journalist to ever profile OpenAI, Hao was formerly a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work has been cited by Congress, featured in university curriculums, and remade into museum exhibits.

Moderator
Reanna Esmail, Lead Librarian for Instruction at Cornell University and a prominent voice in critical digital pedagogy and intellectual freedom, will join Karen Hao in conversation.

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Preserving History with Geoffery Baer

Tuesday, October 20, 2026

Tag along for a special conversation with Geoffrey Baer, beloved Chicago historian, storyteller, and host of numerous PBS programs exploring the architecture, history, and hidden stories of the city and surrounding region. Known for bringing local history to life, Baer has helped audiences connect more deeply with the places and communities around them.

Perfect for librarians, archivists, educators, history lovers, and lifelong learners, this event offers an engaging look at the people, places, and stories that define Chicago. Whether you're passionate about local history or simply curious about the stories hidden in your own community, you'll leave with a renewed appreciation for the power of preserving and sharing the past.

Moderator
Shermann "Dilla" Thomas, an Emmy Award-winning Chicago historian, cultural worker, and social media educator, will join Geoffrey in conversation. Known for making Chicago history accessible and engaging, Dilla has amassed more than 40 million views across social media and become a leading voice in telling the stories of the city he proudly calls home.

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Words, Power, and Community: Dr. Eve L. Ewing

Thursday, November 12, 2026

Engage in an important and thoughtful conversation with Dr. Eve L. Ewing, acclaimed author, educator, poet, and cultural organizer whose work explores race, education, identity, and community. Through writing that blends scholarship, storytelling, and activism, Dr. Ewing has become one of today’s most influential public voices on culture and education.

Explore the power of language and storytelling as Dr. Ewing reflects on how words shape public memory, challenge systems of inequality, and help communities imagine new futures. From classrooms and libraries to poetry and popular culture, this conversation will consider the many ways stories influence how we see ourselves and one another.

Perfect for librarians, educators, students, writers, and readers alike, this event invites attendees to think critically about the role of literature, learning, and community in times of change. Whether you are familiar with Dr. Ewing’s work or discovering it for the first time, this conversation promises insight, inspiration, and meaningful discussion.

Moderator
Brandis Friedman will moderate the event. Friedman is a writer and anchor for WTTW’s Chicago Tonight and Chicago Tonight: Black Voices, and also serves as a champion for libraries.

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Funny on Purpose with Sasheer Zamata

Tuesday, January 19, 2027

Comedy has the power to challenge, connect, and bring people together, and few voices do that as effortlessly as Sasheer Zamata.

Known for her four seasons on Saturday Night Live, Zamata has built a career defined by sharp humor, thoughtful storytelling, and memorable performances across television, film, and stand-up comedy. Audiences may recognize her from Agatha All Along, Home Economics, Woke, Spree, and Netflix’s animated series Exploding Kittens. Beyond the screen, she co-hosts the hit podcast Best Friends with Nicole Byer and serves as the ACLU’s Celebrity Ambassador for Women’s Rights.

In this engaging conversation, Zamata will discuss her creative journey, the evolving landscape of comedy, and how humor can create space for connection and conversation. From live performance to television and advocacy work, her perspective offers an honest and often hilarious look at storytelling, identity, and finding purpose through creativity.

Moderator
Sasha-Ann Simons, an award-winning journalist, news anchor, and talk show host, will join Sasheer Zamata in conversation. Known for her engaging, in-depth interviews on Reset, including conversations with Zamata during her 2022 Chicago tour, Simons has spent nearly two decades covering issues of race, identity, culture, and community, earning recognition from the National Association of Black Journalists, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Edward R. Murrow Awards.

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Navigating Hallowed Ground with David Grann

Thursday, February 18, 2027

David Grann is an author and journalist whose bestselling titles include The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession (2009), Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (2017), and The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder (2023). Grann’s work navigates bizarre, often violent historical episodes, to which Grann lends an immediacy that freshens their intrigue while considering them within their respective historical contexts.

In Grann’s most recent book, The Wager, the wreck of a British warship off the coast of Patagonia in the 1740s’ is retold by two different groups of survivors: one group is hailed as heroes who survived against the odds, while the other finds themselves painted as conniving mutineers. Much like Killers of the Flower Moon, where a then-developing FBI uncovers a vast conspiracy in what feels to the reader like “real time,” The Wager sees Grann utilize his historic vantage point to render a complex and gripping narrative, which pits the conventions of the past against those of the present to uncover the merits and blindsides of each.

Moderator
Daniel Zalewski, Executive Editor of The New Yorker, will join David Grann in conversation. A longtime editor and writer for the magazine, Zalewski has worked closely with many of today’s leading nonfiction authors, including Grann, helping shape some of the most compelling long-form journalism of the past two decades.

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Global Voices, Personal Stories: Megha Majumdar

Tuesday, March 16, 2027

Megha Majumdar’s most recent novel, A Guardian and a Thief (2025), considers the near-future implications of climate change in her home city of Kolkata, India. The bestselling novel is an Oprah’s Book Club pick and a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award. Her first novel, A Burning (2020), was likewise a bestseller, as well as a TODAY Show Read With Jenna book club pick and a nominee for the National Book Award.

Majumdar’s work touches on the interconnectivity of today’s most pressing issues, including immigration and the prospect of climate refugeeism; political polarization and its complicating effects on political, racial, and religious identities; and the shifting of morality in the face of hardship.

Moderator
Alison Cuddy, a Chicago-based writer, interviewer, and cultural producer, will join Megha Majumdar in conversation. Formerly the host of WBEZ's award-winning Eight Forty-Eight and Artistic Director of the Chicago Humanities Festival, Cuddy is known for thoughtful conversations that explore literature, culture, and the ideas shaping our world.

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The Shape of a Story: Ocean Vuong

Tuesday, April 13, 2027

Join us for a special conversation with Ocean Vuong, award-winning poet, novelist, professor, and one of today’s most influential literary voices. Best known for his bestselling novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous and acclaimed poetry collections Night Sky with Exit Wounds and Time Is a Mother, Vuong’s work explores memory, identity, grief, family, and the quiet moments that shape who we are. His latest novel, The Emperor of Gladness, is an instant New York Times bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club Pick.

Born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in a working-class family in Hartford, Connecticut, Vuong brings a deeply human perspective to his writing; one rooted in care, survival, language, and transformation. A recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant, the American Book Award, and numerous literary honors, his work has resonated with readers around the world for its emotional honesty and lyricism.

In The Shape of a Story, Vuong will reflect on the creative process, the power of storytelling, and the ways stories are shaped by memory, silence, community, and lived experience. Whether you’re a longtime admirer of his work or discovering him for the first time, this event offers an intimate look at the craft and heart behind one of contemporary literature’s most compelling voices.

Moderator
Adrian Matejka, an award-winning poet, editor, and educator, will join Ocean Vuong in conversation. The author of several acclaimed poetry collections and a leading voice in contemporary literature, Matejka is known for his work exploring history, identity, and culture through poetry and storytelling.

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On Resistance and Responsibility with Angela Davis

Tuesday, May 11, 2027

The legendary Angela Davis joins Illinois Libraries Present to discuss her extensive contributions to social justice movements worldwide as an activist, author, philosopher, and educator. Davis’ influence has expanded and evolved over several decades and fields of study, from front lines activism to esteemed recognition by some of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions. Her work has been indispensable to social movements addressing racial justice, feminism, mass incarceration, colonialism, and beyond.

Davis is a founding member of the prison abolitionist organization Critical Resistance; author of numerous books including If They Come in the Morning: Voices of Resistance (1971), Women, Race, and Class (1981), Blues Legacies and Black Feminism (1998), Are Prisons Obsolete? (2003), and Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement (2015); recipient of the American Book Award, Sackler Center First Award, and José Muñoz Award; and a recent inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

Moderator
Arionne Nettles, a Chicago based storyteller and cultural reporter, will join Davis in conversation.

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This new, virtual event series is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Bloomingdale Public Library