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…
Free webinar on instutitional repositories in health care systems
New Services to Enhance a Health Care Network’s Reputation Tue, Jan 27, 2015 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM CST ________________________________________ Live for a little over two years, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s repository, LVHN Scholarly Works, has enhanced the Network’s reputation and research credibility by increasing the visibility of its scholarship. In addition to enhancing the…
Update on Affordable Care Act
This editorial from The Lancet has a nice overview of the issues that continue to be associated with implementing The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In particular, the piece focuses on how well the goals of the Affordable Care Act have been met. The main goal is to increase the number of Americans with health insurance. In that…
Key Legislative Issues in 114th U.S. Congress
The American Library Association’s Washington, D.C., office has identified the following issues affecting libraries as being especially crucial during the 114th session of Congress (2015-2017). Appropriations – Maintain level funding for the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) in the FY 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill Copyright –…
Library Referenda in Illinois During 2014
During the 2014 election cycle, a number of referenda affecting Illinois libraries were placed on the ballot. The purpose of most referenda impacting libraries in Illinois and elsewhere is to increase the number of people who have access to library services. Library access is an especially critical issue in Illinois, since approximately one million of…
Federal Budget Passes–Government Shutdown Averted
The United States Senate just passed this year’s $1.1 trillion budget, by a vote of 56 to 40. (The budget still has to be signed into law by the President.) While it is not entirely clear what impact the budget, as a whole, will have on libraries, one thing is certain: there will be an…