ILA Executive Board Report and 2026 Legislative Agenda

September 25, 2025

The ILA Executive Board met on Thursday, September 18, 2025, in-person in Champaign and virtually on Zoom. Below are highlights of the meeting:

  • The Executive Board confirmed Anne Craig as an Illinois Library Luminary.  Anne will be celebrated at the Award Luncheon at the Annual Conference. 
  • President Carolyn Ciesla noted that the ILA Annual Conference is less than a month away. There are still spaces for the Bronzeville Tour Lottery with Dilla. The deadline to submit is October 1.
  • Past-President Amy Byers reported that the Nomination Committee will meet in person at the Annual Conference and want to have a slate by the end of the year. We need your help to find more great candidates to run. Tell your friends and self-nominations are allowed.
  • Vice-President Rene Leyva said that the 2026 Conference Program Committee had its first meeting and the theme and logo will be announced soon.
  • Treasurer Dawn Bussey noted that the financials have not been audited yet. Expenditures exceed revenues but investment dollars were good, providing profit for the year. The 2024 Annual Conference exceeded projected revenue and we’re hoping for this to happen again.
  • ALA Councilor Daniel Matthews attended two special sessions after the ALA Annual Conference. He has included items from each council meeting that required a vote or were worth highlighting – ALA CD 51 and ALA CD 55.

The Board voted to approve the 2026 ILA Legislative Agenda as proposed from the Public Policy Committee (PPC): 

  • Increase Library System Area & Per Capita Grants + Public Per Capita & School District Grants by 20%. PPC received a proposal to increase the grants due to the past five years of inflation. As noted in the proposal, “without an inflation adjustment, these vital funding mechanisms lose value over time, impacting library operations and services.” PPC recommended a 20% increase to the grant, as well as a 20% increase to library system area and per capita grant.
  • Require Public Library Trustee Training. The legislative proposal submitted requires public library trustees to undergo training each year. The PPC found this to be a smart, proactive step for a representative of local government to be best prepared as a trustee. It would set a shared understanding of the role of a public library trustee. 
  • Open Educational Resources funding grant. CARLI’s Open Educational Resources Committee presented its proposal for funding open educational resources (OER) to address rising textbook costs that are creating an equity gap in higher education. PPC supports the $3 million proposal to support faculty in creating OER materials. Last year, CARLI received an IMLS grant to pilot its OER initiative with 120 classes currently using their materials across the state, and the impact data is still being gathered. The OER funding would be part of the Secretary of State budget, a recurring $3 million grant, and it would be available to all schools in higher education per ILLINET.
  • Making eBooks Equitable & Accessible. The cost of eBooks to Illinois libraries is an ongoing and growing concern as libraries respond to user demand. PPC recommends taking legislative action to help libraries address the cost and limited terms of e-content.

In addition to the Legislative Agenda, PPC is working on other proposals and recommendations:

  • Form a Study Group on Personal Property Replacement Tax Disbursements
    PPC discussed a proposal that would direct PPRT funds to be distributed directly to the recipient organization, rather than using a “middleman” currently. The PPC recommends forming a study group to examine the PPRT  issue, instead of a legislative approach at this time. The study group will explore the practice of withholding PPRT funds to public libraries.

  • Form a Study Group on FOIA
    The two proposals PPC received regarding the Freedom of Information Act show there is an ongoing abuse of FOIA to harass public library employees and force the library to spend an inordinate amount of time and legal expenses responding to anonymous FOIA requests. PPC heard examples of how FOIA is being used anonymously to personally attack library staff. 

The issues with public libraries and FOIA are real but we need more supporting information before ILA can move forward with legislation. The Committee recommends forming a FOIA study group to gather stories from libraries and use the RAILS FOIA Hotline for general statistics on how FOIA requests are trending. Once the study group completes its work, there can be a better formed approach during the veto session in 2026 to address changes to FOIA.

The next Executive Board meeting will be held on Thursday, November 20, 2025 via Zoom.

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