Legislative Update -- January 13, 2021
January 13, 2022
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Illinois General Assembly Spring Session: Bills Introduced
The Spring 2022 Illinois General Assembly is under way, albeit in a shortened format with numerous days cancelled due to COVID concerns, although committees continue to meet remotely and bills are being introduced. ILA's Public Policy Committee met on Monday; bills that ILA is following that are of potential interest to libraries are now posted on the ILA website with our position. Those we oppose include the ones that seek to limit property taxes; those we support include those advocating for more accessible high-speed broadband, which dovetails with one of our legislative priorities: broadband for Illinois public libraries. Just yesterday, two bills were introduced in the Illinois House and Senate to advance our other legislative priority: equitable, "reasonable" access to electronic literature for libraries. SB 3167 and HB 4470, both titled the "Equitable Access to Electronic Literature Act," have been introduced for this purpose.
Media Literacy Coalition; Inclusive American History Commission
In the prior session, two bodies were created to address areas of school curricula of interest to school librarians, a Media Literacy Coalition and the Inclusive American History Commission. ILA advocated for the inclusion of school librarians, AISLE put forth nominees, and we are pleased to share that school librarians are well represented on both bodies as they begin their important work.
iREAD Summer Reading Programs
Latest Library JobLine Listings
