Illinois Library Association
Vol. 5, Issue:  #4| January  27, 2012
DRAFT Guiding Principles for Local Government Consolidation Commission

The following draft was prepared for the ILA Public Policy Committee's consideration with eventual transmission to the ILA Executive Board.  At this stage, we need to provide very general guidance and ILA will provide more specific advice as the Commission's work begins and becomes more focused.  For now, please read what follows below and if you have any comments or recommendations, please click here to send your ideas.

 

House Bill 268 (Public Act 97-316) created a seventeen-member commission to survey the structure of local governments including their organization, powers, jurisdictions, and functions.  The Commission is charged with making specific recommendations for legislation or constitutional amendments that will:

 

(i) permit effective management of local affairs, (ii) encourage local policy decision making, (iii) reduce the multiplicity of local governments, (iv) eliminate overlapping and duplicating of unnecessary powers, (v) increase efficiency and economy in local governments, and (vi) allow optional forms of local governments and increase their authority for cooperation among the levels of government.

 

The Commission must provide a final report to the Illinois General Assembly by December 31, 2012.

 

ILA successfully sought Richard McCarthy's (Gail Borden Public Library District trustee) appointment to the Commission to ensure the interests of Illinois public libraries and their constituents were represented during the Commission's deliberations, and reflected in the Commission's recommendations.  In furtherance of these objectives, ILA provides the following guiding principles:

  1. ILA strongly supports each of the goals outlined in the Commission's charge as reflected in sections (i) to (vi) above. Consistent with these stated goals, ILA supports the preservation and enhancement of local control through independent library trustees. ILA agrees that the total number of governmental units in Illinois should be reduced, and unnecessary services should be eliminated. ILA also agrees that local governments should have greater flexibility to cooperate and increase efficiency.
  2. Any public library consolidation effort must also include the objective of providing statewide public library service.  The increased efficiencies and lowered costs from consolidation should be applied to ensuring that every Illinois resident has access to quality public library service.
  3. Consolidation will be most effective if achieved through incentives to merge, rather than mandated dissolution of libraries by Springfield. There are many significant benefits that will result from the ability to specialize, share staff, as well as integrate facilities and resources. State law should reward consolidation by making it easier to create a merged entity and ensuring that the merged entity has the same or better access to resources and funding.
  4. Library laws should be streamlined, updated, and made uniform among the various types of local libraries.  Specifically, public libraries should have funding options that are uniform throughout Illinois.
  5. Libraries play a fundamental role in the intellectual life of society, and free access to information cannot be infringed.  Therefore, governance of libraries should remain independent, and where appropriate, independent control should be enhanced.
Please Sign School Library Petition Before Feb. 4
Time is running out to sign the White House petition asking for the inclusion of school libraries in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).  Indiana school librarian Carl Harvey posted the petition on January 5, 2012.

 

To date, the petition has almost 17,364 signatures.  To qualify for an official response from the White House, 7,636 more signatures are needed by February 4, 2012.  A big thank you to all the library supporters who have signed on thus far!

 

To download a step by step PowerPoint tutorial (with screenshots) of how to sign the petition, click here. 

In the News

Library-related stories appearing in local news media are reflected in this section of the ILA E-Newsletter.  The intent is to alert and inform the Illinois library community about issues and events that are considered significant by the general media.
UIC and Des Plaines Library Collaborate on Communication Project
To continue reading about this story, please click here.
  
Deerfield Library Closing in on Temporary Location
To download the pdf, please
click here.  

President of the Algonquin Area library Board on Jeopardy 
To continue reading this story, please click here. 

Library Video Montage
To view reading this video, please 
Funny Library Montage 
Funny Library Montage

Emphasis on Ebooks Stirs Community Outcry in Illinois
To continue reading this story, please click here.  

Timuel Black Donates Papers to Chicago Library
To continue reading this story, please click here

  

Aurora Library Pitches Plans for New Building
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Library Talk Offers a Show and Shell
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Employee Survey Results Unveiled at Naper Library Board Meeting
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Emanuel Announces Plan to Reopen Libraries on Monday
To continue reading this story, please click here.

  

Rockford Public Library Urged to Think of its Patrons 
To continue reading this story, please click here.

  

Fossil Ridge Sets Reception to Introduce Library Leader 
To continue reading this story, please click here.

   

Demonstrators Protest Reduced Library Hours 
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Libraries Have Become More Than Just a Quiet Place to Read 
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Park Ridge Library's Budget Contains Less for Materials, More for Repairs
To continue reading this story, please click here.

  

Sendak World Comes Alive at Skokie Public Library
To continue reading this story, please click here.

  

Emanuel Replaces Dempsey as Chicago Library Commissioner
To continue reading this story, please click here.

  

Thousands of Elk Grove Library Patrons Getting Reduced Access
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Stephen Colbert and Maurice Sendak
To continue reading this story, please click here
 
Library Recognized as an Outstanding Community Resource
To continue reading this story, please click here.

Analysis:  Why Chicago Library Commissioner Had to Go
To continue reading this story, please click here.

New Commissioner Wants to "Re-envision What Libraries Look Like"
To continue reading 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-Newsletter.  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.



CALENDAR

February 20, 2012
Deadline for April issue of the ILA Reporter.

Guidelines for Submissions to the ILA Reporter.

February 4, 2012
Trustee Forum Workshop, Oak Brook Marriott, Oak Brook, Ill.

February 10, 2012
ILA Executive Board meeting, 10:00 a.m., via VTEL videoconferencing

February 20, 2012
22nd Presidents' Day Legislative Breakfast, Arboretum Club, Buffalo Grove, Ill.

March 13-17, 2012

Public Library Association Conference, Philadelphia, Pa.

March 16, 2012

Illinois Association of College and Research Libraries Conference, Doubletree Hotel, 1909 Spring Rd., Oak Brook, Ill.

March 24, 2012
Trustee Forum Workshop, President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, Springfield, Ill.

April 9, 2012
Youth Services Workshop, RAILS, Rockford

April 11, 2012
Youth Services Workshop, Illinois Heartland Library System, Edwardsville, Ill.

April 12, 2012
Youth Services Workshop, Champaign Public Library

April 13, 2012
ILA Executive Board meeting, Bloomington

April 13, 2012
Youth Services Workshop, Arlington Height Memorial Library

April 18, 2012
Illinois Library Day, Springfield, Ill.

April 24, 2012

National Library Legislative Day, Washington, D.C.

May 4, 2012
Reaching Forward Conference of Library Assistants, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Ill.

October 9-11, 2012
2012 ILA Annual Conference, Peoria 





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Reference Services Forum

April 2011
Youth Services Forum

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