News from RAILS & Libraries

On Sunday, April 19, more than 1,000 people gathered at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library to celebrate a major milestone: the library’s 100th birthday. “The library is the heart of the community,” said Library Board Trustee President Amy Somary during her opening remarks. “At 100 years young...

RAILS will be closed on Thursday, May 7, for a staff in-service meeting. RAILS delivery service and ILDS (Illinois Library Delivery Service) will not operate on May 7. CTS will pick up, but will not deliver on that day.

LACONI’s Programs, Outreach, and Promotion section is looking for new board representatives. This section provides information, inspiration, and connection for library staff who have responsibilities in programming, outreach, marketing, community engagement, and strategic partnerships. We offer...

How does your library serve the local business community? The RUSA-BRASS Business Reference in Public Libraries Committee is looking for library workers in public libraries who serve business patrons to take a short survey. Our goal is to learn about trends and patterns in serving business library...

As we continue to celebrate 50 years of serving our community, Three Rivers Public Library District, in conjunction with the Three Rivers Public Library Foundation is pleased to announce it's first "friendraiser" of the year - a Library Pub Crawl! Participants will check-in at the Minooka Branch...

The Roselle Public Library District Board of Trustees is excited to announce that construction will soon begin on the new library building at 233 E. Maple Avenue, in Roselle. Building contracts were approved at the March Board Meeting and the Library has been working through the permit process and...

Geralyn Hesslau Magrady, the 2016 winner of the Soon to Be Famous Illinois Author Project, recently took to Facebook to celebrate the tenth anniversary of her victory for her novel, Lines. Reflecting on the impact of the Illinois library contest, Magrady shared: “Winning this award was an incredibly...

The Reaching Across Illinois Libraries System (RAILS) has selected 26 projects to receive My Library Is... Grants. The total amount funded for these projects is $104,874.34. The purpose of these grants is to provide an opportunity for libraries to focus on projects that help tell their institution’s...

A clip from Fox 32 Chicago Live in which RAILS Executive Director Monica Harris discusses Illinois House Bill 5236, the Digital Library Protection Act. Monica explains why this bill is necessary to help protect libraries from rising e-book costs. This clip is from Monday, April 27.

Are you interested in meeting with like-minded Youth Services library staff to discuss diversity of all kinds? Whether it be hiring diverse presenters, planning inclusive programming, selecting diverse materials for collection development and more...we want to discuss it! Join us to help diversify...

The Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library in Wheaton, IL will be having an international language book sale the week of May 3rd-9th. Our open hours are: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 1:00pm-5:00pm. We have a large selection of books in several languages and are excited to find new...

At long last, Phase II of Lake Villa District Library's Outdoor Space Plan is complete. While the official grand opening will be held on Sunday, June 7, visitors are welcome to explore the space now. Enter at the Book Arbor and follow the path. “Phase II of the plan includes multiple projects,” said...

Dan and Monica break down the latest in this month's episode: ⚖️ Yes, more library legislation updates 📈 What's different in this year's annual report 💡 Our new online learning platform 📋 A preview of next month's Member Update topics Relevant Links: HB 5236 Digital Library Protection Act HB 3411 HB...

On Wednesday, May 13, 3-4 p.m., we will host a RAILS Member Update. This event will feature three short presentations. A full agenda is attached. Kyla Williams Tate, Cook County Director of Digital Equity, will present on digital equity and libraries. Nincy George, RAILS Cataloging Services Manager...

The La Grange Public Library is celebrating National Library Week by hosting another entry from the PBS Indie Lens Pop Up Series at an After Hours Event on Friday, April 24th at 6:00PM. A discussion panel with local advocates and experts will follow. The Librarians takes viewers from Texas to...