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Issue: # 9
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February 10, 2009
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Official Barack Obama Special Event License Plate Is Available
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 The Illinois Library Association (ILA) is pleased to announce the availability of an official Barack Obama special event Illinois license plate. The plates are available for purchase at www.ila.org/obama for $50 a pair. Proceeds will help support the association's activities including iREAD, the summer reading program for Illinois youth.
The election of President Barack Obama represents a historic moment for our state. These plates will commemorate and celebrate the election of our nation's first African American president. The proceeds will benefit libraries, referred to by President Obama as "our windows to a larger world."
"Libraries are more important than ever in this period of economic instability and more and more people are using them every day," said ILA President Donna Dziedzic. "Moreover, study after study have proven that the economic impact of libraries is greater than the amount invested in the libraries' operations and, in fact, libraries are economic engines in their community."
In 2005, the then U.S. Senator Obama keynoted the opening general session of the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago. He praised librarians as guardians of truth and knowledge, and thanked them for their role as champions of privacy, literacy, independent thinking, and most of all reading.
"Libraries are the cornerstones of our communities," said Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White. "I am committed to working with libraries across the state to help them serve their patrons and communities at the highest level. The iREAD program represents an important effort to encourage our young people to read."
The special event license plates, which read "Illinois Salutes President Barack Obama," are unique commemorative plates to be displayed on Illinois vehicles for sixty days, beginning February 17 and ending April 17, 2009. After this date, the Obama license plate will be available for purchase to everyone nationwide to add to their Obama collections.
The plates will be sold at the Chicago Auto Show, February 13-21, 2009 at McCormick Place, 2301 South Martin Luther King Drive and are also available at www.ila.org/obama for $50.
The Special Event License Plate program was established in 1980. Special event license plates are a unique promotional device available to organizations by the Illinois Secretary of State's Office to promote various interests of Illinois citizens. Upon approval by the Secretary of State's Office, organizations may design license plates to be displayed on vehicles for sixty days. For additional information on the Special Event License Plate program, visit the Secretary of State's Web site at www.cyberdriveillinois.com.
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Illinois State Library Sponsors "On The Front Lines" Conference
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This conference will feature a number of topics relevant to issues facing front line staff. The three-day conference in March will be at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS). For more information and to register, click here.
The conference hotel is the Hilton Springfield. To reserve a room at the rate of $70.00/single or $85.00/double call 1-800-445-8667 or (217) 789-1530. A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Springfield, 700 East Adams Street, Springfield, IL 62701. Reservations must be made by February 23, 2009 to get this rate.
A limited number of UIS Private Dormitory Rooms with semi-private restrooms are available in Founders Residence Hall at a rate of $35.00/day. Contact Mary Ellen McElligott at (217) 206-6220.
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Federal Economic Stimulus Package Update
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The U.S. Senate has voted today 61-37 to pass an $838 billion
tax-cut and spending bill to boost the economy. The measure now goes to
conference with the U.S. House of Representatives, which has passed a $819 billion version of
the bill. These are likely to be tough negotiations between the House and
Senate conferees. In the meantime, a major library grassroots effort
must continue to maintain library-provisions in the final bill.
There are pros and cons to each version of the bill. While the
Senate version included the $200 million for broadband funding, it also
has an amendment (titled the Nelson-Collins Amendment) that would
essentially strip all education funding from the economic stimulus
package. The House version, on the other hand, includes funding for a
host of programs libraries benefit from including Education for the
21st Century, K-12 Repair and Modernization, Higher Education Repair
and Modernization, Rural Community Facilities Program, State Broadband
Development, Community Service Employment for Older Americans, National
Endowment for the Arts, and Head Start/Early Head Start.
There are portions of each bill that benefit libraries and the
communities they serve.
GRASSROOTS MESSAGES - Please continue to contact your Senators and
House members. Please call all of your Senators and
Representatives and tell them the following sections of each version
must be protected:
In the Senate version:
All conferees should support the broadband funding, including the
$200 million designated for libraries and community colleges to deploy
broadband. There are other broadband projects in the Senate bill that
should help libraries in partnership with other institutions and local
governments, especially in rural areas.
In the House version conferees are asked to keep in:
- Education for the 21st Century
- K-12 Repair and Modernization
- Higher Education Repair and Modernization
- Rural Community Facilities Program
- Community Service Employment for Older Americans
- National Endowment for the Arts
- Head Start/Early Head Start (House version).
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In the News
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Library Associates Companies (LAC) Finalize Agreement with DuPage Library System (DLS) to Provide Staffing Services
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Highland Park Library Grows More Popular
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Indian Prairie Public Library Increases Services to Meet Heightened Demand
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Indian Trails Hosts Party for India's Republic Day
To continue reading about this story, click here. Plainfield Library Referendum to Appear on April BallotTo continue reading about this story, click here. Charleston and Mattoon Voters to Decide on Library DistrictsTo continue reading about this story, click here. Illinois Offers a Patchwork of Library Funding SystemsTo continue reading about this story, click here. |
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Sincerely,
Robert P. Doyle
Illinois Library Association |
Disclaimer: Links to non-ILA sites have been provided because these sites may have information of interest. The Illinois Library Association does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or the facts presented on these sites; and furthermore, ILA does not endorse any commercial products that may be advertised or available on these sites.
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