Welcome to River City Reading Room, a bookstore and cultural space opening in spring 2026 at 315 Main Street in downtown Peoria.

The Reading Room will offer a diverse collection of books—mostly new but some pre-read as well. You will find bestsellers, new fiction, classics, and books for children and young adults. A local interest section will feature books about Illinois and by Illinois authors.

The Reading Room’s gallery will feature the works of local and regional artists. If you are interested in having your art displayed in the Gallery at River City Reading Room, please drop me a line at charleslevesque@hotmail.com.

My hope is that River City Reading Room will be a true third space—a place outside of home and work—where community is built and celebrated. Please consider holding your book club meetings in the store and attending the lectures and workshops that will take place throughout the year.

About this website
In tandem with opening the store, I will be working (assisted by techies far more talented than I!) on updating this website. When fully operational, the website will contain a calendar of events, a platform to purchase books, a spot featuring excellent “reads”, and “The Diary”, my musings on running a bookstore and life in general. I hope you will visit the site frequently.

Happy Reading,

Chuck Levesque
Owner
River City Reading Room