Reaching Forward North Committee Illinois Library Association

News

Member Spotlight - Jennifer Hovanec: April 29, 2024; This week's member spotlight is on Jennifer Hovanec. Jennifer is the Executive Director of the La Grange Public Library. Jennifer is a member of the Reaching Forward North Committee and has served on the ILA Best Practices, Conference Progr…
Member Spotlight - Matthew Matkowski: August 11, 2023; This week's member spotlight is on Matthew Matkowski. Matthew is the Head of Public Services at the Palos Heights Public Library. He previously served as chair of ILA's Intellectual Freedom Committee and is a member of the Reaching Forward Commi…
Member Spotlight - William Pleas: April 24, 2023; This week's member spotlight is on William Pleas. William is the page and volunteer coordinator at the Highland Park Public Library. He is a member of the Reaching Forward Forum and served on the ILA Conference Program Committee in 2020 and…

Reaching Forward North Committee Charge

Coordinates program planning for the Reaching Forward North Conference with a focus on providing opportunities for library support staff * to grow, learn, and connect with new ideas and colleagues.
Various subcommittees take on the work of recruiting and liaising with vendors, putting together a performers’ showcase, and managing social media as well as other functions necessary to run the conference.

Solicits awards nominees and selecting winners for the Oberman and Rich Reaching Forward Conference Grant which recognizes the contributions of a support staff member to the library community and the role of support staff in libraries and the Robert Doyle ILA Conference Grant for Support Staff to encourage ILA membership and support staff attendance at the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference.

*Library support staff, or library paraprofessionals, are involved in all library operations at all levels. The range and complexity of their duties varies with each position, the size and type of the library in which they work, and each library's specific needs, goals, or mission.

The one distinction usually drawn between "support staff" and "librarians" is that those in the latter group typically have a Master of Library and Information Science degree (MLIS).

2024 Reaching Forward North Award Winners

Robert P. Doyle
ILA Annual Conference Grant

Alejandra Nieto
South Holland Public Library

Oberman and Rich

Reaching Forward Conference Grant

Kathleen Schaefer

Dixon Public Library

Oberman and Rich Reaching Forward Conference Grant

Selection Process: The deadline to submit a 2025 nomination is March 31, 2025. Nominations will open in January for 2025 nominations. You may submit nominations for yourself or for a colleague. A panel of judges from the Reaching Forward Committee will be responsible for choosing the recipients.

Committee Composition

The committee is composed of up to sixteen members serving three-year staggered terms. Fewer than 25% of the committee members are in a managerial/director position. Chairs (chair, incoming chair, and past chair) will serve a three-year term.

The Reaching Forward North Committee identifies its own appointees, the incoming chair finalizes the appointments with the approval of the ILA Vice President/President-Elect. The committee composition should include library staff at all levels with a minority of managerial/director positions.