House Bill 2689, the Internet Screening in Public Libraries Act, was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly on February 19. (So far, no action has been taken on the legislation since it was referred to the Rules Committee that same day.) The sponsor is Representative Peter Breen (Republican–48th District, Lombard), who just started his first…
Proposed Federal Budget for FY 2016 Released
Earlier this month, President Obama announced his priorities for the FY 2016 federal budget. Part of the budget is devoted to improving health care for Americans, through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and through other reforms. The specific areas being targeted, and the goals under each one, are listed below. Supporting Implementation of…
ILA Positions on Illinois Legislative Issues
The Illinois Library Association’s Executive Board has taken the following general positions on legislation that has already been introduced, or is likely to be introduced, during the current session of the Illinois General Assembly. –Opposes any legislation cutting funding, for counties and municipalities, that comes from the Local Government Distributive Fund –Is against legislation reducing…
House Makes Another Attempt to Repeal Obamacare
Yesterday (February 3), the United States House of Representatives made yet another attempt to start the process of repealing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. House Resolution 596 passed by a vote of 239 to 186, with the tally split almost entirely along party lines. (No Democrat voted for it, although three new Republican…
Two NLM exhibits in Illinois this spring
Native Voices: Native Peoples’ Concepts of Health and Illness will be hosted by Trickster Art Gallery in Schaumburg, IL, from January 27 – March 20, 2015. Online Exhibition: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/ Every Necessary Care and Attention: George Washington and Medicine will be hosted at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine – Medical Library, Springfield, IL, from…
Legislative Alert–Proposed Amendment to Illinois Concealed-Carry Law
Yesterday, an amendment to the “Firearm Concealed Carry Act” was introduced by Representative Ed Sullivan, Jr. (Republican, 51st District-Mundelein), and the bill was referred to the Rules Committee this morning. The amendment would affect the section of the legislation covering the removal of a weapon from a vehicle, specifically if the vehicle is parked in…
Legislative Meet-Ups Reminder
With Governor Bruce Rauner having laid out his proposals for slashing spending by up to 20 percent, and with further cost-cutting measures likely to be unveiled in his “State of the State” speech on February 4, it is critical that library advocates act now to ensure that maintaining funding levels at an acceptable level is…
Illinois Budget Situation
With a new governor having taken office, the state’s budget situation-already precarious-could become more so, with the potential for many public institutions, among them libraries, to be hit especially hard. Governor Bruce Rauner has inherited a number of crises, including an ongoing operational deficit and a rising state pension debt, both of which have now…
Library Advocacy Unshushed: Values, Evidence, Action
The American Library Association is proud to announce its partnership with the Canadian Library Association (CLA) and the University of Toronto iSchool in offering its popular MOOC (Massively Open Online Course), entitled “Library Advocacy Unshushed: Values, Evidence, Action”, beginning February 1, 2015. Offered through the EdX consortium, in which the University of Toronto collaborates with…
Cleo Pappas nears 1 year in retirement
Cleo Pappas, Associate Professor, retired February 2014 from the Library of the Health Sciences Chicago at UIC. Cleo is a passionate advocate for health sciences librarianship. She frequently guest lectured at Dominican University to library school students on health sciences librarianship. She enjoyed mentoring her colleagues within my department and the library school students who…