Great Authors at the Library

We were thrilled to host Scott Turow, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Presumed Innocent and The Last Trial, on May 5. Next up? We are looking forward to enjoying An Evening with Matt de la Peña on November 16!

SINCE 2016, the Great Authors at the Library series has brought 16 award-winning, New York Times bestselling authors to Champaign, where they have been welcomed by more than 3,000 community members.

Each author presents a public talk about their writing, signs books, and meets local readers. We often set up book giveaways in advance, sharing ”Read and pass along” copies of the author’s books with community members. For authors of children’s books and teen titles, we set up school visits so that area schoolchildren can meet these literary giants. We also provide books to our partnering Champaign Unit 4 School District libraries. And for the community’s youngest readers, we give out books at storytimes to help families build home libraries.

Acclaimed speakers in the Great Authors at the Library series have included New York Times bestselling authors Terry McMillan, Scott Turow, Colson Whitehead, Lisa Scottoline, Nnedi Okorafor, Gregory Maguire, Luis Alberto Urrea, Nikki Grimes, Jamie Ford, Javaka Steptoe, Elizabeth Berg, and David Sheff.

Great Authors at the Library visits are made possible with support from the Library Foundation and Library Friends.

>> Great Authors books in our collection

setup for Colson Whitehead author visit