Author: Carmen Howard

Illinois NewsIllinois and Secretary of State Giannoulias continue to make national headlines over book bans legislation. Most recently, Sec. Giannoulias testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 12th. You can watch a recording of his testimony or read the uncorrected closed captioning by visiting the C-SPAN website. Federal News The United States Copyright Office…

Federal Did you know that the Medical Library Association’s Public Policy Center has a Censorship and Library Practices Toolkit? The toolkit is available to everyone whether you are an MLA member or not, and it contains links to resources to help you keep track of legislation. You can download the toolkit here. State Governor Pritzker…

Federal The American Library Association, Association of American Publishers, American Booksellers Association, and the Authors Guild are asking for organizations and individuals to recommit to the Freedom to Read Statement (first written 70 years ago.) To read the statement, sign the document, or get more information, visit https://uniteagainstbookbans.org/freedomtoread/. Illinois Public Act 103-0167 (previously House Bill…

Illinois News / Update on HB2789: HB2789 LIBRARY SYSTEMS-BOOK BANNING is getting national and international attention. HB2789 has been sent to the Governor’s desk for signature. Here’s a small sample of what is being written about this first-of-its-kind legislation:

A few Illinois Bills & Resolutions of interest: House Resolution (HR0261) – OSTEOSARCOMA AWARENESS DAY – Declares September 15, 2023 as “Osteosarcoma Awareness Day”. Urges the federal government to allocate more funding toward finding a cure for osteosarcoma. – Status: Referred to the Rules Committee on 5/8/23. Follow the Resolution here. Senate Bill 69 (SB0069)…

An update on activity in Illinois

State: The Illinois Legislature is in session and our senators and representatives are busy introducing several new bills, resolutions, and amendments.  Most are currently being sent to the Assignments Committee as the next step in the process. Stay tuned! In the meantime, sign up for the Illinois Library Association (ILA) advocacy opportunities starting Wednesday, February…

State: Happy New Year!  There are several new laws for 2023.  Here is an NBC5 Chicago article about the new Illinois laws and a listing from Illinois Legal Aid Online.  

State: The soon-to-be Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, has announced a temporary website. He is using this site to keep us informed of his plans as he gets ready to take office on January 9. He is also asking for input from us. You can “Share Your Ideas with Alexi” by visiting here.

Federal **Primarily related to school librarians, but may be of interest to all. Right to Read Act (S. 5064; H.R. 9056) introduced by Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-03) Information about the Right To Read Act: ALA applauds new school library legislation to widen access for students nationwide (ALA News, 10/6/2022) Right…