A steering committee has been formed to carry out the charge coming out of the summit meeting held on November 9, 2009, on library cooperation in Illinois.  Co-chairs Dee Brennan, Oak Park Public Library, and Donna Dziedzic, Naperville Public Library, have developed a planning document that has been distributed to all summit participants.  Next steps include formation of task forces early next year to address specific areas of need.

The planning document describes the vision and mission for the process as follows:

VISION

Every Illinois resident has access to the highest quality library services and resources to meet their lifelong learning needs.

MISSION

Facilitate and guide the development of a comprehensive plan to transform local, regional, and statewide library services in Illinois.

The steering committee is charged to do the following:

• Identify the key recommendations from the summit and establish task forces to work on each issue.

• Appoint task forces that represent all types of libraries and all geographic and demographic interests; identify their scope of work and a timeline for completion; provide coordination and a guiding vision.

• Assist task forces in the conduct of work and help execute and carry forward their recommendations.

• Work with Illinois library systems as they develop interim strategies and plans to deal with the current fiscal crisis.
  

• Work with the Illinois Library Systems, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), Illinois School Library Media Association (ISLMA), Illinois Chapter of the Special Libraries Association, and ILA including the Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries (IACRL) Forum, Library Trustee Forum, Public Library Forum, Reaching Forward:  Forum for Library Support Staff, the Youth and Young Adult Services Forums, and others to ensure optimum communication and collaboration.·     

As soon as summit participants have had the opportunity to comment on the planning document, a full text version will be posted on the ILA Web site at www.ila.org.

Next year, the U.S. government will start the 2010 census, our nation's 23rd, as required by the U.S. Constitution.  In February and March, the Census Bureau will begin mailing or delivering census questionnaires to households in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Island Areas.  For the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau has changed the way it conducts the national count.  Households will receive only a short-form census-taking just minutes to complete-that will count all residents living in the United States and ask for name, sex, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, relationship and housing.

Participation in the census is important, since census data directly affect how more than $400 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, education, public health, transportation and much more.  Another central component of the census is how it is used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and to define representation in state and local government.