News from Illinois Library Association

Issue: # 33

October 30, 2009

2009 Fall Veto Session

The Illinois General Assembly has just completed the Fall 2009 Veto Session. The General Assembly failed to take any significant new action to address the state's continuing budget deficit. No additional revenues were approved and no additional cuts were imposed. However, as a result of declining state income and sales tax receipts, the governor has announced a plan to borrow an additional $1 billion in the current fiscal year to address cash flow problems.

In addition to considering approval or override of vetoes by the governor, there were two issues that dominated this session; Cook County sales taxes and campaign finance reform. House Bill 4625 would make it easier to override the veto power of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. The state legislation would reduce the margin required to override a veto from four-fifths to three-fifths. The county board has 17 commissioners, so the number of commissioners needed to override a veto would fall from 14 to 11. The effect of this legislation would likely be a repeal of Cook County's sales tax increase.

The Illinois General Assembly also passed Senate Bill 1466, a comprehensive system for regulating political campaign contributions. This compromise legislation was supported by democrats and ethics reform groups, but opposed by republicans as not sufficiently restricting the use of campaign dollars by legislative leaders. Key provisions include:

* Requiring candidates to report contributions four times a year instead of twice, donations of $1,000 or more must be reported within two days;
* State Board of Elections random audits;
* Limits personal contributions to $5,000 to any candidate;
* Limits political action committee contributions to $10,000;
* Limits businesses and unions to $10,000 to any candidate and $20,000 to political action committees;
* Limits candidates and political committees to between $50,000 and $125,000 to candidates and other committees during primaries depending on the office; and
* Allows unlimited contributions by political committees to candidates during general elections.

The Governor Quinn is expected to sign both these bills. The Illinois General Assembly is expected to return to Springfield on January 12, 2010.

Save Illinois Libraries Campaign

More than 3,900 messages have been sent to all 177 members of the Illinois General Assembly, and 11 have signed on to the pledge. We are asking every legislator in the Illinois General Assembly to commit to the following pledge:

"Recognizing the importance of libraries and library systems to our communities and to the livelihood of the citizens of the state of Illinois, I (lawmaker) will work to oppose any additional cuts to library per capita grants in FY10. Furthermore, I will work to fully fund library per capita grants when additional state funding becomes available in the future."

The elected officials who have pledged support are:
Illinois Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White
Representative Rich Brauer, R-100, Springfield
Senator J. Bradley Burzynski, R-35, Sycamore
Senator James Clayborne, Jr., D-57, East St. Louis
Representative Eddie Lee Jackson, Sr., D-114, East St. Louis
Senator David Luechtefeld, R-58, Okawville
Representative Robert Pritchard, R-70, Sycamore
Representative Randy Ramey, Jr., R-55, West Chicago
Representative Jim Sacia, R-89, Freeport
Senator Jeffrey Schoenberg, D-9, Evanston
Senator Dave Syverson, R-34, Rockford
Representative Dave Winters, R-68, Rockford

Please click here to send an e-mail message.

Please click for further information.

Illinois Library Shovel-Ready Construction/Renovation Projects

ne of the earliest initiatives of the Obama administration was passage of a massive federal stimulus package, designed to jump start the faltering economy with public works projects that would put people to work and put dollars into circulation as quickly as possible.

In December 2008, ILA compiled the Illinois Library Shovel-Ready Construction/Renovation Projects in anticipation of possible federal economic stimulus funds or a state capital bill. Since being sent to both federal and state officials, the list resulted in the passage of State House Bill 312, Public Act 096-0035 and State Senate Bill 1221, Public Act 096-0039, funding more than $113 million in library capital projects in Illinois, including $50 million for a new state library grant program. Please click here to view the document.

If the Illinois General Assembly considers another capital project for the next budget, ILA will start a new list. We were unfortunately unable to capture any federal economic stimulus funds and don't envision another program.

However, if we see some movement either on the federal or state level, we'll let the Illinois library community know about those development ASAP via the ILA E-newsletter.

As a result of our successful advocacy efforts, the Illinois State Library now has $50 million for a new state library grant program. The state library is requesting that each Illinois public library complete and submit the one-page online Capital Needs Assessment Survey by Friday, November 20, 2009, even if no capital improvements are needed. It is recommended that you have Acrobat 8.1 or higher installed on your computer to take the survey.

Please click here to access, complete and submit the survey

The state library is using only an electronic format for completion of the survey to facilitate the collation and retention of data for future use.

It is important that all public libraries respond to this survey so that the state library can convey the need for capital improvements in our public libraries to the Illinois General Assembly and to the public.

November 6 is the iREAD Order Deadline

Ordering your Scare Up a Good Book! products is easier than ever at the iREAD online store.

Why is ordering IREAD materials by the deadline so important?

ILA orders products from manufacturers based on the actual quantities requested on the orders received by the deadline. If there are many late orders, the product might be unavailable or ILA may need to purchase additional product (probably at a higher per unit cost) to meet late demands. This can cause delays in libraries receiving their order.

What is the purpose of the late fee?
In order to get the best possible price on materials, ILA orders materials in bulk. The late fee encourages libraries to order materials in a timely manner, so the correct quantity can be produced.

The iREAD products will be delivered in January-February 2010.

Thriving While Surviving:
The Complete 21st Century Librarian
2010 IACRL Conference Call for Proposals

The IACRL 2010 Conference Planning Committee invites you to submit proposals for presentations and poster sessions for the conference, which will be held March 25-26 at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and Conference Center in Springfield. Please consider sharing your creative approaches, practical solutions, and philosophical observations that will inspire academic librarians to thrive, not just survive, in these tough economic times. In particular, how are we beginning to define librarianship in the 21st century? What are we learning about our users? What are we learning from each other? What are you doing in your library?

Program proposals are due Friday, December 11, 2009; poster session proposals are due Friday, January 15, 2010.

Please click here to download proposal form.

In the News

Des Plaines to Library Board: Cut Deeper
To continue reading about this story, click here.

Moline Public Library Wins the Frommer's 2009 Display Contest
To continue reading about this story, click here.

Milowski Looks to Keep Eye on Cook's Expenses
To continue reading about this story, click here.

Sincerely,

Robert P. Doyle
Illinois Library Association

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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.