The Illinois Library Association has announced its first round of legislative meet-ups for the upcoming Illinois General Assembly session. The meet-ups will be held in mid-February, with three of them in the Chicago area and one in the St. Louis area. South Suburban Breakfast-will be held in Tinley Park on Friday, February 13 West Suburban…
Author: Eric Edwards
December 3 Update on Illinois HB3796
I am glad to report that the Illinois Senate voted earlier today to override Governor Quinn’s veto of Illinois House Bill 3796. (The vote was by a margin of 39 to 13; a three-fifths majority, or 36 out of a possible 59 votes, was needed.) House Bill 3796 amends the Freedom of Information Act, to…
Articles from Bates Continuing-Education Session
For anyone who’s interested, here are the three articles that Mary Ellen Bates highlighted in her continuing-education session. “What Are They Doing and What Do They Want: The Library Spaces Customer Survey at Edmonton Public Library”https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/perj/article/view/1967/2633#.VHysVcmKLZg This article discusses a survey, of patrons at the Edmonton Public Library, designed to determine how they use library…
Update on Illinois HB3796
I am happy to report that Governor’s Quinn veto of House Bill 3796, which amends the Freedom of Information Act, has been overridden. This past Wednesday, November 19, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 76-36 in favor of overriding the veto. The legislation now goes to the Illinois Senate, in which a three-fifths majority is…
Overview of 2014 Illinois Legislation
During this year’s ILA conference, representatives of several statewide advocacy organizations, including the ILA’s Public Policy Committee, gave updates on pieces of legislation from the current Illinois General Assembly session that are especially relevant to libraries. The following bills, in particular, were of special concern to legislative advocates this year. House Bill 3793-This is a…
Overview of 2014 Advocacy Events
Here is an overview of recent and upcoming advocacy events at the state and federal levels. Illinois Legislative Meet-Ups-During February, meetings with legislators were held in four locations, including Lockport, Oak Brook, and Edwardsville. These meetings grew out of the annual Presidents’ Day breakfast, which is held in the northwestern suburbs. The meet-ups were intended…
Legislative Action Agenda
The Illinois Library Association has released its 2015 Action Agenda. The main items are library funding, intellectual freedom and privacy, access to library services, and increasing the effectiveness of Illinois libraries. Below are the specific goals for each item. (I’ve put in bold the items that will probably have the biggest impact on hospital and…
Interview with Stacey Knight-Davis in IACRL Newsletter
I also wanted to share my interview with HSLI President Stacey Knight-Davis that appeared in the Spring edition. (Again, sorry I’m sending this out just now.) Thanks, again, Stacey, for agreeing to be interviewed! Member Spotlight: Stacey Knight-Davis Why did you decide to become a librarian? I started volunteering at my local public library when…
Story on Open Access in IACRL Newsletter
Below is an article I wrote that appeared in the Spring edition of the IACRL Newsletter. The article covers open access, which continues to affect many aspects of librarianship, mainly because of librarians’ role in providing users with the tools for accessing scholarly articles, and also because of the increasing number of scholarly articles that…
LSTA Story in IACRL Newsletter
Below is an article I wrote for the Fall issue of the IACRL Newsletter, which was just released. The article covers LSTA, the Library Services and Technology Act. LSTA is the only federal legislation that focuses exclusively on libraries, making it a crucial source of funding, in addition to a barometer of the level of…