Local Community Resources
Naperville Public Library (Naperville, IL)
"Naperville Public Library is committed to providing materials, services, and programs that represent a wide array of cultures and experiences so that all members of the community feel included and represented."
Anderson's Bookshop (Naperville, IL and Downers Grove, IL)
"Anderson's Bookshop supports the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular. The following is a list of titles that are currently being challenged and removed from shelves in pubic schools and public libraries across the country."
Sourcebooks (Naperville, IL)
"We’re an innovative, mission-driven book publisher that champions diverse voices in publishing."
"Sourcebooks is firmly against any attempt to restrict access to books. We stand with authors, librarians, booksellers, educators, and readers of all ages in our commitment to protect the right to read, teach, and distribute diverse books and ideas."
Oesterle Library Mission & Values
Oesterle Library Mission
Oesterle Library is a student-centered resource center focused on creating a diverse and responsive environment of access, creativity, and learning. We cultivate an ethically engaged and information savvy community by supporting open access to spaces and information, fostering the creative inquiry process, advancing teaching excellence, and cultivating diverse and responsive collections through intentional collaboration with the North Central College campus and surrounding communities.
Oesterle Library Values
- Access - Open access to information, privacy, transparency, and intellectual freedom to support the NCC community and student success.
- Accessibility - Providing accessible virtual and physical spaces that are inclusive, diverse, respectful, and welcoming.
- Learning - Lifelong learning, exploration, and curiosity through academic and intellectual growth.
- Information - Accessible, diverse, and dynamic collections that support the research, teaching, and learning of the NCC community.
- Community - Engagement with the NCC community and surrounding communities through collaborative programming, spaces, and resources.
- Literacy - Fostering a community of information and media literate learners that are ethically engaged citizens.
The library adheres to the following professional guidelines:
- American Library Association's Bill of Rights
- Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries
- ALA Freedom to Read
- ALA Freedom to View Statement
- ALA Statement on Challenged Materials
- ALA Statement on Professional Ethics
- ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education
- Social Justice Standards of the Southern Poverty Law Center
Banned Books Week
"Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Held in the last week of September or first week of October, the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas."
Campus Events
Book Bans & the Freedom to Read: A Roundtable Discussion
WHEN: Tuesday, October 7, 2025, from 4:30-6:00 PM
LOCATION: Stevenson Hall, 2nd Floor, Wentz Science Center (131 S Loomis St, Naperville, IL 60540)
Last year, the American Library Association documented hundreds of attempts to censor books at public libraries, school libraries, schools, and colleges. All told, 2452 unique titles were targeted. Meanwhile, by 2024, 29 states had adopted legislation that makes it easier to restrict young people’s access to particular books or to have those books removed from library shelves.
Join us for a Banned Books Week roundtable discussion about which books are being banned across the U.S., why this is happening, and what we can do to protect the freedom to read. Light refreshments will be served. Free and open to the public.
Right to Read Night
WHEN: Thursday, October 9, 2025, from 4:30-6:00 PM
WHERE: Oesterle Library, Room 200
Join us for a community discussion of Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. Read the book, bring your thoughts, and be part of the conversation. Light refreshments will be served.
Right to Read Night is an annual event held during Banned Books Week to get communities talking about books, freedom of expression, and defending the right to read.
