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Issue: # 17
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April 25, 2009
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Final Month. Contact Your State Elected Officials Now!
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The 2009 Spring Legislative session is entering the final month and now is the time to remind your local legislators about library issues. This is the key time for budget negotiations so we need you to focus your legislators on our funding priorities. Please call, write, fax, and e-mail your local State Senators and State Representatives with the following messages:
(1) Illinois needs a capital projects bill and library projects need to be specifically identified in the capital bill as eligible for state funding. If libraries are not specifically listed as eligible, there is no guarantee libraries projects will be funded;
(2) Send your specific list of local shovel-ready projects to your legislators. (You can download and use, as appropriate, the information in the Illinois Library Shovel-Ready Construction/Renovation Projects);
(3) Support the Illinois Secretary of State's proposed budget that includes funding for library grants including small increases in equalization, school, and public library per capita grants.
The Illinois General Assembly will make may key budget decisions in the next few weeks, so contact legislators now!
In addition to seeking state funding, ILA met with the Governor's office on Thursday, April 23 and is aggressively pursuing whether any discretionary federal stimulus funds could be applied for either capital or operational library needs. This funding is flexible and the control rests in the hands of the
governor on how the funding is allocated in the state. It is those
funds that we are hoping the governor will allocate to repair and
modernize library buildings and to keep our doors open or extend hours,
hire staff, purchase materials to meet the increasing needs, etc.
Our intentions are to ensure our elected officials are aware of our needs and we will continue to advocate for library funding in good and bad times. While ILA will continue to inform the library community about our discussions and ongoing efforts to obtain additional funding, it is now time for you to take ACTION.
Contact information for your elected officials is available at on the ILA Web site.
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National Library Legislative Day Briefing Schedule
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With all the change that has happened in Washington in the last seven months, library advocates participating in National Library Legislative Day
will need a new and innovative approach on library issues. May 11 will
be a day of issue briefings to prepare participants for Congressional
visits by giving them the necessary information and key messages.
National Library Legislative Day - Briefing
Tuesday, May 11, 2009
The Liaison Capitol Hill
415 New Jersey Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
Phone: (202) 638-1616
8:00-9:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast and Check-In
9:00-9:15 a.m. Welcome and Announcements
9:15-9:45 a.m. New Congress, New Administration: What to Expect in the
111th Congress
9:45-10:15 a.m. Appropriations: Plenary Session
10:15-10:30 a.m. Break
10:30-noon Advocacy: Bringing the Message Home
Noon-2:00 p.m. Lunch On Your Own
Noon-2:00 p.m. ACRL Member Luncheon
2:00-2:45 p.m. Copyright: Plenary Session and Strategy
2:45-3:30 p.m. Breakout Sessions
Session A: Internet and Telecommunications
Session B: USA PATRIOT Act
3:30-3:45 p.m. Break
3:45-4:30 p.m. Stimulus
TO REGISTER
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In the News |
SIU Unveils Upgraded Library
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Mt. Prospect Firm Awarded Cook Library Expansion To continue reading about this story, click here.
Naperville Library Pares Loan Time with Budget Cuts
To continue reading about this story, click here. Cook Memorial Library Board Awards Contract to Maggio
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Elgin Library Branch Opening Due in July
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Dreaming of Aurora Library Site
To continue reading about this story, click here.
Lisa Madigan Speaks at the Black Road Branch of the Joliet Public Library
To 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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