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…
Author: Eric Edwards
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…
Update on Illinois HB3796 (affecting Freedom of Information Act)
Illinois House Bill 3796, which opponents argue would have severely restricted access to Freedom of Information Act-protected information, was vetoed by Governor Quinn on June 27. The bill had passed both houses of the General Assembly by an large margin (49-1 in the House, 77-36 in the Senate). The purpose of the legislation, according to…
General Assembly spring session overview
The Illinois General Assembly just concluded its Spring 2014 session. A number of pieces of legislation affecting libraries, especially in terms of funding, were on the schedule. Among them were the following: House Bill 3793-funds capital appropriations for projects at specific libraries House Bill 3796-amends the Freedom of Information Act to allow individuals requesting large…
Legislative Alert–Illinois HB4207 (Cyberbullying)
Please take note of Illinois House Bill 4207, which amends the Illinois School Code to cover cyberbullying to a greater extent than it already does. Specifically, the legislation would modify the “Bullying prevention” provision of the school code. Under the changes, bullying via computers, or other electronic devices, at a function that is not school-related…
Action Needed on Illinois HB3898–Retirement Funding
The Illinois Library Association is calling for action on Illinois House Bill 3898, which modifies the Illinois Pension Code. Specifically, an amendment to the legislation eliminates the supplemental benefit payment-also referred to as the “13th payment”-from the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). The payment is essentially deferred compensation intended to balance out the rising cost…
FY 2015 Federal Budget’s Impact on Health and Medicine Funding
This summary from California Healthline has a good overview of the impact that the president’s proposed FY 2015 budget will have on health and medical funding, and also what the initial reaction to some of the proposals has been. Note that the largest cuts will be in Medicare and Medicaid, with an estimated $400 billion…