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Ad Lib: Advocacy for Libraries

June 18, 2008

Lunch with Christine K. Prochno, Republican candidate for the 66th District

Today, several NSLS staff and board members, including Executive Director Sarah Long and NSLS Board President Skip Mosshamer, had lunch with Christine Prochno, the Republican candidate for the State Representative seat in the 66th District.  We were joined by several of our public library directors, as well as an academic and special librarian.  (Currently, Representative Carolyn Krause holds this position.)

Chris grew up in Elk Grove Village and has been a life-long library user.  She proudly boasts of owning a wooden card catalog and remembers the original Elk Grove Village Public Library residing in a house.

Chris came to the lunch table today with many years of experience as a parent, educator, Village Planning and Zoning Board member, as well as Elk Grove Village Trustee (1997 – Present).

Being a big fan of libraries, Chris likes the idea that libraries strive to serve everyone, from individuals to local groups.

NSLS Director Sarah Long took this opportunity to talk about NSLS and its members.  Chris was unaware that we had such a diverse library population, including four types of libraries. Sarah also described our services and how NSLS collaborates with member libraries.

When asked for her thoughts on public policy and funding, Chris replied that since District 66 is comprised of home-rule communities, she strongly believes in local control, leaving policy making to the individual communities and libraries.

On funding, she believes that our legislators need to sit down and evaluate the entire state budget–find out where the money is being spent and “trim the fat.”  She would like to generate more revenue by creating more incentives for businesses, enticing them to come to Illinois.

Our member libraries present told Chris about the current struggles facing all types of libraries today, including limited funding (higher costs to provide materials and services to ever-increasing numbers of library patrons), lack of support for staffing school libraries with qualified candidates, problems serving unserved areas, and finding the time and developing the strategies to market library services to the general public.

Chris heard all concerns and indicated that she is open to help libraries any way she can.  In return, our members offered their expertise and resources to her on library issues.

Chris is endorsed by:
Virgina B. Macdonald, Retired State Senator
Carolyn H. Krause, State Representative 66th District

It was a great lunch and enjoyable conversation.

 

posted by Sharon at 4:44 pm | Comments (0)

June 9, 2008

Lunch with Mark Walker, Democratic candidate for the 66th District

On June 9, Mark Walker, the Democratic candidate for State Representative in Illinois’ 66th district, stopped by NSLS for a chance to meet with several system members and be introduced to what libraries in general and NSLS in particular have to offer. Joining us for the conversation were Skip Mosshamer, NSLS Board president; Marilyn Genther from Mt. Prospect Library; Njambi Kamoche from Harper College; David Ruff from Rolling Meadows Library; Paula Moore from Arlington Heights Memorial Library; and NSLS staff members Donna Tieberg, Dale Lawrence, Denise Rotella, Jill Lynch, and myself.

Mr. Walker started off the lunch meeting by talking about his experiences with libraries, explaining how he had used the business section of the Arlington Heights Library regularly to help him start his own business. He expressed his love for libraries, describing them as “so fundamentally ‘America.’”

Skip follow up on that by talking about NSLS and what we do, and built on that by inviting the members present to talk about what the system meant to them. There was mention of the inter-library delivery system, continuing education, networking opportunities, and unique programming. Paula pointed out that, in economic downtimes like now, that’s when people use libraries more, and when libraries in turn rely more on the systems.

In response to the candidate’s question about what libraries’ needs and issues are, the discussion turned to open access and internet filtering. Marilyn explained the position of filtering being a local issue libraries had to decide for themselves, and Mr. Walker responded that, while it was important to him that he make sure to take actions to protect children, he personally believes that the responsibility starts with the parents, not the library or the government.

The conversation then turned to questions of freedom of information, information access, and funding concerns. Njambi talked about the specific role that community college libraries can take on, serving as a de-facto public library for many people who live in unincorporated areas and would otherwise not have full access to a public library collection. Because of this, she said, they need to see an increase in more general use materials, such as kids books and ESL materials, and that state funding can be a strong help in enabling them to provide those services.

Mr. Walker expressed the difficulties in taking a firm funding position; that he “would rather fund education and libraries than other things, but it becomes a terrific balancing act, and I honestly don’t know where all the money is.”

Tying the issues of funding and information access together, David pointed out that “the greatest form of censorship is to have the library doors closed on a Sunday when they used to be open;” a consequence of libraries not having sufficient funding and needing to cut corners. Mr. Walker recognized the problem, and reaffirmed his support of libraries, but pointed out that “if these were simple financial problems, they would’ve already been solved.”

Skip wrapped things up by explaining that libraries are no longer satisfied just receiving passive positive regard from the community, and because of this, NSLS is taking a more active role in the political arena.

posted by Alan at 3:14 pm | Comments (0)

June 3, 2008

Your One-Stop Freedom of Information Resource

Well, maybe not one-stop, but it looks to be pretty comprehensive.

UNESCO (that’s the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) has released an updated version of their Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey handbook. As they describe it:

The importance of the right to information or the right to know is an increasingly constant refrain in the mouths of development practitioners, civil society, academics, the media and governments. What is this right, is it really a right and how have governments sought to give effect to it? These are some of the questions this book seeks to address, providing an accessible account of the law and practice regarding freedom of information, and an analysis of what is working and why.

This is 156 pages of UN analysis of the issue that’s at the core of libraries, so it should make for some fun summer reading. You can get the whole thing as a PDF at the link above, so check it out if you have a chance.

posted by Alan at 9:56 am | Comments (0)