Legislative Update -- April 8, 2021

April 8, 2021

Senator Durbin Pledges Support for Federal Funding for Libraries
ILA Executive Director Diane Foote, Director of the Illinois State Libary Greg McCormick, and UIUC Copyright Librarian and Assistant Professor Sara Benson met with Senator Durbin and staff from Representative Bustos's office yesterday along with Gavin Baker from ALA's Public Policy and Advocacy Office in a virtual advocacy event organized by ALA. As a result, Senator Durbin posted a press release affirming his strong support for infrastructure and ongoing library funding. 

Take Action! Federal Funding for Libraries for Fiscal Year 2022
It's National Library Week, and today is Take Action for Libraries Day. THIS WEEK, please reach out to your members of Congress to ask them to sign on to two "Dear Appropriator" letters: One requesting funding for IMLS/LSTA  of $206 million; the other for funding for the Innovative Approaches to Literacy Act in the Department of Education of $50 million. ILA will also reach out to all Illinois federal elected officials, but it is important for them to also hear from constituents. Take action here. Access ALA's informational resources here.

Build America's Libraries Act Update
Speaking of library infrastructure and support, we have added three more House co-sponsors to the Build America's Libraries Act this week. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Robin Kelly, and Raja Krishnamoorthi join Representatives Bustos, Casten, Foster, Newman, and Schakowsky among 100 of their nationwide colleagues, along with Senator Durbin and more than a dozen of his Senate colleagues. ILA continues to try to increase our state's sponsorship of this landmark funding legislation. 

Springfield Update
ILA's Public Policy Committee met on Monday April 5 to go over pending legislation that has moved out of committee in the Illinois House of Representatives, which is in recess until April 13. A full list of state bills ILA is following can be found on the Illinois Legislative Issues web page. In brief, PPC took action on the following: HB 162 to require a discussion about consolidations of local governments every 10 years (support); HB 234 to require media literacy to be included in high school curricula (support); HB 680 to enable units of local government to pose questions to potential service providers prior to issuing a formal RFP (support); HB 3410 to require much more extensive posting of documentation on local government web sites (oppose); and many others which we are monitoring. 

AISLE has submitted two nominees for the school librarian position on the recently-created Inclusive American History Commission, which is part of the Illinois Black Caucus's legislative agenda education platform, signed into law by Governor Pritzker earlier this year.

iREAD Summer Reading Programs

Since 1981, iREAD provides high quality, low-cost resources and products that enable local library staff to motivate children, young adults, and adults to read.

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