newsletter of the Peoria Public Library www.peoriapubliclibrary.org Jo Baker Brings the Servants of Jane Austen’s World to Life JULY 2014 Volume 23 n No. 7 Published monthly by the Peoria Public Library
MAIN LIBRARY 107 N.E. Monroe 309.497.2000 LAKEVIEW BRANCH 1137 W. Lake 309.497.2200 LINCOLN BRANCH 1312 W. Lincoln 309.497.2600 MCCLURE BRANCH 315 W. McClure 309.497.2700 NORTH BRANCH 3001 W. Grand Parkway 309.497.2100 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Edward J. Barry, Jr. Stephen M. Buck Margaret E. Cousin Lucy D. Gulley F. Eugene Rebholz Debbie Ritschel Sid P. Ruckriegel Barbara Van Auken Jeanne Williamson DIRECTOR Leann Johnson EDITOR Trisha Noack DESIGNER Laura Fehr
British author Jo Baker has perfectly imagined the below stairs world of Jane Austen’s famous Pride and Prejudice in her book Longbourn. The award-winning author will be at Peoria Public Library Main Library on Monday, July 14 at 6:30 p.m. to give fans an inside look at her work. The event is free, but a reservation is requested. To make reservations for yourself or a group please call (309) 497-2150 or email programmingdept@ppl.peoria.lib.il.us. In Longbourn, the servants take center stage as this irresistibly imagined belowstairs answer to Pride and Prejudice unrolls. Rather than being a retelling of Pride and Prejudice, it is a story told around the beloved 200-year-old Austen work. While Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters fuss over balls and husbands, Sarah, their orphaned housemaid, is beginning to chafe against the boundaries of her class. When a new footman arrives at Longbourn under mysterious circumstances, the carefully choreographed world she has known all her life threatens to be completely, perhaps irrevocably, upended. Mentioned only fleetingly in Jane Austen’s classic, here Jo Baker dares to take us beyond the drawing rooms of Regency England and, in doing so, uncovers the real world of the novel that has captivated readers’ hearts around the world for generations. Longbourn has been named A New York Times Book Review Notable Book, a Seattle Times Best Title, a Christian Science Monitor Best Fiction Book, a Miami Herald Favorite Book, and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. The film version is in pre-production. Jo Baker was born in Lancashire, England, and educated at Oxford University and Queen’s University Belfast. She is the author of the novels The Undertow, Offcomer, The Mermaid’s Child, and The Telling. She lives in Lancaster, England. Books will be available for purchase at the event and there will be an opportunity to have your book signed by Jo Baker. Please call (309) 497-2150 to reserve a ticket.
Summer Readers Keep Reading and Celebrate July 29 Paws to Read Summer Readers are having a “barking” good time in the summer of 2014 with 5,000 Summer Readers signed up and reading. July encompasses Weeks Five, Six and Seven when readers need to keep reading and signing in so they can claim their Chief’s game voucher and Party Pass! July is packed with more exciting animal programs for all ages. Stop in for a program, sign your Summer Reading log, then pick up something new to read. When you’ve read five weeks you’ve earned your voucher to attend a Chief’s game on
either Monday evening, August 4 or 18. The exciting Summer Reading party will take you to the Peoria Riverfront Museum on Tuesday, July 29 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. where everything is included and even the parking is free! Just remember after you have read six weeks to claim your Party Pass when you sign your Summer Reading log and bring it with you to the museum that night. You will be able to go to a Planetarium show, see a big screen movie and all the exhibits, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not. See you there!