Peoria Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle
Friday, November 6h, 2026 9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
Peoria Women's Club, 301 NE Madison Ave., Peoria

In collaboration with Bradley University's Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), the PWC invites you to join the Peoria Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, recognized as the oldest continuous book club in the United States. Lynette Steger, a professional educator and Peoria Women's Club board member, is the moderator.

Registration will be available through the OLLI website under Winter Semester: https://www.bradley.edu/academic/continue/olli/. A small fee includes membership in the national Chautauqua Institution, contributions toward CLSC graduation, and access to discussions, snacks, and coffee.

What we are reading and discussing:

Chautauqua’s Heart: A History of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle

By Mary Lee Talbot 

Before university and college extension courses, before Oprah’s Book Club, educational television, and the Internet, there was the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle — a daring 19th-century experiment that brought higher learning to anyone with curiosity and determination. Founded in 1878, it became one of the most influential adult-education movements in history: a correspondence college for ordinary people, complete with reading lists, diplomas, and graduation ceremonies. In Chautauqua’s Heart, historian Mary Lee Talbot traces how this visionary program spread from a lakeside tent in western New York to towns and villages across America and around the world, transforming the very idea of lifelong learning.

Questions? 

Contact Peoria CLSC Instructor Lynette Steger at (309) 642-2688 or stegerlynette@gmail.com.

Location: Peoria Women’s Club, 301 NE Madison Ave., Peoria, IL 61603