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Volume 3, Issue: # 17
| June 7, 2010
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Future of Library Cooperation (FILC)
What is ILA Doing?
|  As we all know, the Illinois library systems are experiencing tremendous devastating changes and the impact of these changes is just beginning to be felt at the local level. There is a need for both short-term strategies and long-range planning. ILA's role has been to convene member groups to arrive at a plan that we can present to key decision makers in Springfield in the near future. We believe this effort can succeed if we arrive at a consensus that is workable for libraries, systems, and state agencies and funding levels. Here's what we're doing:
1) Since last fall, member groups have been meeting under the auspices of a steering committee that came out of discussions on the Future of Illinois Library Cooperation (FILC). The three task forces on services, funding, and structure will present preliminary findings to the ILA Executive Board on Friday, 18 June and join in board discussion of next steps. The ILA Executive Board is looking forward to the FILC Task Force reports and believes the information gathered and priorities identified will be instrumental in building consensus and setting a direction for the urgent issues faced by the Illinois's library community. Their final reports are to be presented at the end of July.
2) ILA's legislative consultant, Kip Kolkmeier, and ILA's advocacy consultant, Mike Grady, will also attend the next executive board meeting to assess the climate in Springfield and outline possible avenues for conversations as we move toward the next legislative session. The library community, represented by ILA, has a credible voice with legislators and policymakers, but until we have internal consensus and a workable plan, discussions at the state level are thought to be premature. An effective plan will require specificity, as well as broad intent.
3) We will report back to the membership after the Friday, 18 June ILA Executive Board meeting, outlining next steps that could include outreach to systems to become part of their merger discussions. It is likely that major system restructuring will require some statutory or regulatory changes and ILA will take the lead in working to develop the specific legislative or regulatory language. ILA will also seek the support of legislators and executive officials as necessary to implement the proposed changes.
4) The goal is to craft a plan by the end of the summer for internal review and assessment for success. The plan will provide direction for advocacy efforts and enlist the ILA committee structure and other potential coalition partners.
Dee Brennan, ILA Public Policy Committee chair, and Donna Dziedzic, ILA immediate past president, are co-chairs of the FILC steering committee and task forces and ILA Executive Board, as well as participating in system discussions in an effort to keep communication flowing among all groups. Obviously, coordinated and effective communication is essential during this period when the systems are struggling in determining their immediate plan for survival, while ILA looks at the longer time frame.
The next ILA Executive Board meeting is scheduled for Friday, 18 June, 10:00
a.m., at the Metropolitan Library System, 224 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60604-2501; phone: (630) 734-5000. The meeting is open and your attendance is welcomed.
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Sarah Ann Long Inducted as Illinois Library Luminary
|  As the former director of the North Suburban
Library System (NSLS), Sarah Long led an organization of more than 650
academic, public, school, and special libraries in the north/northwest
suburbs of Chicago. Long was president of the American Library
Association in 1999-2000 and is a past president of the Public Library
Association. In her more than forty years of library leadership, she
has worked with libraries and library organizations in five states,
including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Oregon, and worked as an academic
librarian in England. Often ahead of her time, Long pioneered Internet
access in NSLS libraries and earlier in her career led winning library
referenda campaigns in Pennsylvania and Oregon. A frequent speaker and
contributor at conferences, online, and in print, she is a six-time
recipient of the John Cotton Dana Award for excellence in public
relations, presented annually by the American Library Association. Her
many awards and recognitions include being named the ILA Librarian of
the Year in 1999.
For more information, visit the ILA Web site.
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Des Plaines Library Opts Not to Pay for Inter-library Van ServicesTo
continue reading about this story, please click here. St. Francis High School Breaks Ground on Library, Science CenterTo
continue reading about this story, please click here. Glencoe Library Friends Help Stave Off Delivery System CollapseTo
continue reading about this story, please click here. Delayed Funds Threaten Popular Park Ridge Library ProgramsTo
continue reading about this story, please click here. Des Plaines Library Director to RetireTo
continue reading about this story, please click here. Stocking Up for their Summer ReadingTo
continue reading about this story, please click here. Books Are Just as Good as Summer School?To
continue reading about this story, please click here. If your library has a newspaper story with link, send it to us at doyle@ila.org for possible inclusion in the next ILA E-News. Thanks. |
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.
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