NPR’s Morning Edition to Broadcast From I Know You Like a Book

National Public Radio’s Morning Edition will be broadcast from I Know You Like a Book, in Peoria Heights, Illinois, on Friday, April 8, from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. EDT, as part of the show’s new initiative to travel to different small towns across America.

Store owner Mary Beth Nebel said the upcoming broadcast came about in large part because I Know You Like a Book hosted a successful autographing event for Morning Edition co-host David Greene’s Midnight in Siberia: A Train Journey Into the Heart of Russia (W.W. Norton) in November 2014.

“Apparently Morning Edition will be leaving its home studio in Washington, D.C., on occasion and visiting small towns around the U.S., and I guess my store was suggested to be the kickoff for this concept,” said Nebel.

“It’s been kind of crazy lately,” she added. “I have NPR tech people calling me all the time because they each have their specific function. All the different technical parts get really complicated.”

Nebel, who is an underwriter and former advisory board member at her local public radio station, will be inviting people to come to the store to sit in on the taping. She plans to promote the NPR appearance with a radio spot, as well as via Facebook and I Know You Like a Book’s monthly newsletter.

There is still much to do to prepare for April 8, Nebel said. So far, she has had to provide NPR with photos of I Know You Like a Book’s 1,500-square-foot space so the show’s producers are able to estimate how many people can be seated while leaving room for the necessary technical equipment. Over the past few weeks, NPR technical support has visited several times to check the store’s high-speed Internet capabilities and evaluate the building’s electrical infrastructure to make sure it can support the show.

There is one additional challenge for Nebel accompanying all this excitement: getting up outrageously early in the morning for the taping.

“Morning Edition broadcasts from five in the morning to nine, for four hours, so here we’re going to have to start at 4:00 a.m. because of the time difference,” she said with a laugh. “I’ll probably try to get up at 3:00 that morning.”