News from Illinois Library Association

Vol. 4, Issue: # 17 July 15, 2011

Calendar | iREAD | Jobline

August 2011 ILA Reporter on ILA Web site

Please click to download the entire August 2011 ILA Reporter. The issue includes the following articles:

"Marketing Comes to Campus: Academic Libraries Learn to Blow Their Own Horns," by Elizabeth S. Neill

"An Interview with Illustrator Barry Gott: 2012 iREAD Artist for Reading Is So Delicious!"

"Keeping Public Libraries Public: A Checklist for Communities Considering Privatization of Public Libraries"

"Summer Thoughts: Simmer or Sizzle," by Allen Lanham

"My Turn," by Lori Keenan

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Conference Registration Open

The Preliminary Conference Program is now available on the ILA Web site and online conference registration is open. Early Bird Registration closes on August 22, so register soon and save!

ILA Moves Up

Suite 401

After 23 years in the same office space, the Illinois Library Association moved to new office space at the end of June -- one whole floor higher in the same building at 33 W. Grand in Chicago. The new space is larger, with fresh paint and carpet, and lacking the cinder block walls of the former offices. While we are unpacking, we will provide the same services and convenience to members and staff.

When Do the New Legislative Districts Apply?

Questions Regarding Redistricting that ILA Members Are Asking

The simple answer: The new boundaries will apply to legislators elected in November 2012 and will remain the same boundaries until 2021.

A more complete response follows: Every ten years following the census the Illinois General Assembly is charged with drawing new legislative district boundaries for both State General Assembly (State Senate and State Representative) and Federal Congressional (United States House of Representative) legislative offices. The district boundaries are described in legislation which must be passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor, or approved by a supermajority vote of the General Assembly over the Governor's veto. During the Spring 2011 session, the General Assembly passed and the Governor signed legislation creating the new district boundaries. The General Assembly district boundaries were contained in one bill, and the federal congressional boundaries were contained in a separate bill. The new boundaries will apply to legislators elected in November 2012 and will remain the same boundaries until 2021.

The current General Assembly and Governorship are controlled by Democrats and therefore the district boundary maps were drawn exclusively by democratic legislators. As a result, the district boundaries are expected to be challenged in court by Republicans. Court challenges will include arguments that the boundaries disadvantage minority groups and other communities of interest. While typically the minority party files such court challenges, they are rarely successful. Elected officials and potential challengers are already assuming that they will have to run within the new district boundaries passed by the General Assembly.

Candidates will begin to circulate nominating petitions to run in the new districts as soon as September of this year for the Spring 2012 primary. It is possible that court challenges will delay the nominating and primary process, but are usually expedited to allow the primary to go forward as scheduled.

RHINO Poetry for Illinois Libraries

RHINO Poetry is offering the 2011 issue at a $2.00 discount ($10 instead of $12) to members of the Illinois Library Association. New Pages calls RHINO Poetry a journal that "bursts with imagination and innovation." RHINO Poetry 2011 is the largest issue in its 35-year history, featuring 100-plus poets from thirty-three US states and eight nations. Visit the special ILA page for ordering information!

In the News

Demotion of Old Library at Illinois Wesleyan Will Take Weeks
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Metro East Library May Soon Be a Topless Bar
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Chicago Tapped for Nation's First Writers Museum
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Falcons Return to Evanston's Library
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Barrington Library Logo Gets a Makeover
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Five Questions with New Executive Director of Naperville Public Library
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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.