City of Naperville holds its first Embracing Community Book Read

Donate Today Buy This Video

The City of Naperville and the Naperville Public Library launched its Embracing Community Book Read on Wednesday night at the Naperville Municipal Center.

To kick off the community reading event, Peter Block, the author of the selected book, “Community: The Structure of Belonging”, held a book talk via Zoom.

Peter Block kicks off the book read with a Zoom talk

Block discussed the purpose of his book and offered some important takeaways to the community members in attendance.

“We have the capacity as citizens to create our own collective well-being and what I want to offer through this process is the means and methodology where we decide that our well-being is in our own hands,” said Block.

He said it starts with neighbors learning to trust each other and not labeling one another based on needs, but rather focusing on the good they bring to the world.

“So to me, the community building part is to say, why don’t we focus on the gifts of our neighbors,” said Block.

“He’s got a different approach to how you build community, and I was very impressed by that,” said Dr. Geneace Williams, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager for the City of Naperville. “Then there are three themes out of his book that we have selected, although there are a number of things in the book.”

Those three themes are that every person is a citizen, relationships matter, and that communities can do better by focusing on possibilities rather than problems. 

More events coming in the near future 

The reading window for “Community: The Structure of Belonging” is from now until Oct. 5., with all residents invited to give the book a read.

Later in October, two sessions of small group discussions on the book will take place throughout various locations in the community. The book read will culminate in a final inclusive community-wide conversation on Nov. 7.

The dates, times, and locations are still being finalized and will be shared with participants later this summer. Those interested in future events can email inclusion@naperville.il.us.

About the Embracing Community Book Read

The Embracing Community Book Read is one of Naperville’s many efforts to partner with local organizations for inclusive community discourse. It’s part of the “Embracing Community: Empowering Our Dialogue, Deepening Our Understanding” series, which aims to foster inclusion for all community members. 

“At the end of the day, I hope that it makes us more of a connected community, more of a community that understands what we want to create together, and then actually working toward creating that,” said Williams. 

Have a story idea, we’d like to hear from you!