newsletter of the Peoria Public Library Volume 25, No. 3
MARCH 2016
2016 Read the book Peoria Reads!
and get involved!
Presented by Peoria Public Library & Common Place
Peoria Reads, with a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts chose the book The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien as the significant book for Peorians to read. It’s a soldier’s fictional remembrance of the Vietnam War and a variety of programs presented over the next two months will offer a wealth of insight into the themes of the book including war, the life of a soldier and the Vietnam era. It has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. A complete calendar of events appears in this newsletter and at www.peoriareads.org. Some highlights of the many programs planned are United States Representative Cheri Bustos and City of Peoria Councilman Eric Turner speaking about this year’s project, and the importance of reading and discussion in improving human growth and understanding at the kick-off program on Sunday, February 28 at North Branch at 2:00 p.m. The musical group Random Strangers, Chuck Mahieu and Steve Fairbanks, will sing and play acoustic guitars to perform some of the best rock ‘n roll tunes of the Vietnam War generation. Copies of the Peoria Reads book will be given away and a full events list will be available.
The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
Also coming to Peoria Public Library for a Big Read: Peoria Reads! program is award-winning journalist Nissa Rhee on Saturday, March 19 at Peoria Public Library North Branch at 2:00 p.m. Learn about the hundreds of American veterans who forty years after the fall of Saigon now call Vietnam home. These men are removing unexploded bombs and land mines from old battlefields. They are raising money for victims of Agent Orange, an herbicide sprayed by the United States during the war. In this multimedia program, award-winning journalist Nissa Rhee will take audience members on a journey through Vietnam to meet these veterans turned peace builders. Nissa will be joined by Vietnam War veteran Mike Kerber, who returned to Vietnam in 2013 as part of a tour led by Veterans for Peace. Get another view of war when Rory Fanning, author of Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger’s Journey Out of the Military and Across America, explores the emotional and social consequences of rejecting the mission of one of the most elite fighting forces in the world. At its core, Fanning’s story is one of a developing political consciousness, shaped in turn by the horrors of the US military machine. Rory emerged from all of this with the firm conviction that he, and all of us, need to stand “in solidarity with the victims of the US empire, and the most oppressed communities living in the US.” Fanning will use his story to draw out several lessons: Who are we fighting in Afghanistan? Why are we fighting? He will also discuss why war resisters are so important. Hear Rory Fanning on Wednesday, March 30 at Peoria Public Library Lakeview Branch, 6:00 p.m. or March 31 at the ICC, East Peoria campus, room 301-A (Student Lounge), 2:00 p.m. In April, join Peoria Reads and musician and Vietnam Veteran Kimo Williams. James “Kimo” Williams spent much of his childhood being bounced from inner cities to a rural sharecropper farm witnessing first-hand the racial segregation of the South. That led to his passion to create his own identity and career as a musician and educator. He served with the U.S. Army in Vietnam just after hearing Jimi Hendrix playing at the Waikiki Bowl. He was so inspired by this concert that he dedicated himself to music and playing guitar. He is now a highly regarded composer and musician who continues to serve Veterans while winning one award after another for musical compositions from Continued on page 2
1