There exists a silent killer among us, dressed to the nines in pharmaceutical jargon and backed by a lobby of some of the wealthiest corporations in America; are you willing to shine a light behind the curtain and unmask the culprit?

IVCC’s Jacobs Library is partnering with local libraries and the Perfectly Flawed Foundation to cultivate critical conversations about the Opioid epidemic and the human cost of consumer culture within our college and our communities through their One Book, One College program.

The 2021-2022 selection Death in Mudlick: A Coal Country Fight against the Drug Companies That Delivered the Opioid Epidemic explores the idea that not everything is always as it seems; what one hand giveth, the other taketh away. What hidden price do we pay when we let something numb our pain?

This is where investigative journalist Eric Eyre comes in with his NY Times Award Winning book, Death in Mudlick: a product of the so-called “sustained outrage” of an awake and aware American no longer content to just stand idly by while his fellow patriots die from drugs they were told would ease their current pain, just to eventually create even more.

So, how do we protect the sanctity of human life and wellbeing in a culture that places profit above people?

How do we resist the sustained manipulations of a system that aims to numb symptoms and distract from pain rather than cure diseases (because a patient who is no longer sick is no longer profitable)?

How do we demand integrity and honesty from the political, economic, and medical structures that loom over us, yet are only powerful because of us?

What do we truly need to be happy and fulfilled people?

Join the conversation, either informally with peers and loved ones or as part of our community discussion groups. The free and open to the public events will be held in person and online via Zoom for all people, regardless of whether or not they read the book; the first meeting will be Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021 at 6 p.m.

Participating locations include: Illinois Valley Community College, Jacobs Library; IVCC Ottawa Center; Perfectly Flawed Foundation; Oglesby Public Library; and Zoom.

For more information, specific location addresses, updated events details, the zoom links to the live discussions or to get added to the One Book mailing list, visit ivcc.edu/onebook.

If you would like to read the book, you can secure a rental at your local library or Jacobs Library where our dedicated librarian and One Book coordinator, Jayna Leipart Guttilla, has promised to put a copy in the hands of any student who would like to embark on this eye-opening journey (also available as an eBook or audiobook).

If you prefer to have a copy you can scribble on and keep forever, visit the fine folk at the IVCC bookstore (where students receive 15% off), the Perfectly Flawed Foundation in LaSalle, or Prairie Fox Books in Ottawa.