School Library Advocacy Through Education (SLATE)

SLATE logo, a circle filled with stripes in several shades of blue and three white arrows pointing from the lower-left edge of the circle towards the upper-right area. To the right of the circle is the acronym SLATE in a sans-serif font.

2026-2027 School Library Census

Get ready! The SLATE School Library Annual Census is just around the corner - this year's form will open on October 1, 2026. Be sure your school library is counted by completing the form by February 28, 2027.

Get to Know SLATE

Interested in learning more about SLATE and how it supports school libraries? Check out our brand-new video and hear directly from school librarians why collecting data about school libraries matters.

Tools You Can Use

Interested in using data to support your school library? Learn more using the resources below:

Data Dashboard

RAILS is pleased to provide the Illinois School Library Data Dashboard, an online tool to view information about school libraries, as part of the SLATE project. The information and resources available are essential to understanding and advocating for school libraries and their staff.

Click the image at the right to visit the site.

Link to SLATE school library data dashboard.

School Library Advocacy Toolkit

This resource is provided by the Illinois Partnership for School Libraries, a statewide library partnership including AISLE, IHLS, ILA, and RAILS. While it's primarily intended for use by school library workers, the toolkit includes useful information and resources that could be helpful for teachers, concerned parents, and concerned community members as well.

Click the image below to visit the toolkit.

School Library Advocacy Toolkit Header links to the School Library Advocacy page of the RAILS website.

The Value of School Libraries

Link to the Value of School Libraries PDF.

Use this one-page document to share the value and importance of school libraries with administrators and colleagues.

The Importance of School Librarians

link to the Importance of School Librarians document on the Illinois State Board of Education site.

A one-page document highlighting the knowledge and skills of school librarians, as well as why they're vital to student success.

Project Background

In response to large gaps in the data representing Illinois school libraries discovered by the SLIDE Project, in January 2022 RAILS launched the School Library Data Project. The goal of our project is to gather data related to the staff, collections, and financial resources of school libraries to provide them with better targeted resources and support. In recognition of the ongoing nature of our efforts and to demonstrate our committment to school library advocacy, in Fall 2023, our project was formally renamed SLATE, which stands for School Library Advocacy through Education.

Data for our project has been and continues to be gathered from the following resources:

Illustration showing the various data sources that feed into school data.
  • National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
  • Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
  • Illinois State Library
  • Dominican University iSchool
  • Illinois Heartland Library System
  • L2: Library Directory & Learning Calendar
  • Individual Schools, Districts, & Library Staff

Past Resources

This 10-minute video from the 2022 RAILS Back to School Fest provides basic background information about how SLATE project began.

View the PDF of slides from the Back To School Fest presentation.

"Unlock the Power of Data"

A session presented at the 2023 AISLE Annual Conference by Janette Derucki, RAILS Data Research Specialist, and Leah Gregory, IHLS Membership Coordinator - School Library Liaison.

Unlock the Power of Data - AISLE 2023 by Janette Derucki