Police respond to several bomb threats called into Chicago area libraries

AURORA, Ill. (WLS) -- Police responded to several threats called into libraries across the Chicago area on Tuesday.

The Aurora Police Department said three libraries in the western suburb were evacuated as a precaution.

Chopper 7 was over the scene of one of the Aurora libraries, where police were on the scene investigating.

Police were also called to libraries in Evanston, Addison and Schaumburg. Those libraries were also evacuated as a precaution.

Another threat was called into the Harold Washington Library in Chicago. Police swept the building, and it was not evacuated.

Nothing has been found at any of the libraries.

Authorities did not say whether the threats are connected.

Illinois State Police are participating in the investigation into the incidents, though further details from law enforcement have not been released.

The American Library Association released a statement, saying in part, "Libraries are meant to be a safe haven for our communities, welcoming of people everywhere who believe in the peaceful exchange of ideas. These ongoing and rising attacks on America's libraries pose an existential threat to the cornerstone of our democracy. Libraries are committed to upholding and defending the core values of inclusion and free and equal access to ideas and information, which are essential to an informed democratic society. The freedom to read is a constitutionally protected right, and reading choices must be left to the reader, and in case of children, their parents. Threats of physical harm and harassment are not, and never have been, protected speech."