Happy Back to School from RAILS | Reaching Across Illinois Library System

As the 2026-2027 school year begins, we want to remind school library staff about some upcoming school library events, activities, & opportunities:

Advocacy

SLATE Data Dashboard – an online tool to view information about Illinois school libraries. The information and resources available are essential to understanding and advocating for school libraries and their staff.
School Library Census 2026-2027 – opening in October 2026, this is a RAILS project to gather data for the SLATE Data Dashboard.
Can't Shelve This – a RAILS podcast that focuses on the importance of school libraries.

Upcoming RAILS school library continuing education:

August 25 - Grant Writing with AI: A Practical Guide for Libraries webinar *
September 21 – Book Repair Workshop @ Bourbonnais Public Library *
September 22 – Book Repair Workshop @ Joliet Public Library Black Road Branch *
September 23 – Book Repair Workshop @ Woodridge Public Library *
School Libraries section of RAILS Academy – RAILS hosts a wide range of recorded webinars on RAILS Academy, including school library-related webinars.
Illinois School Library Workers Symposium (ISLWS) - September 16. A free professional development event for school library workers. *
School Library Town Hall – January 2027. An online advocacy and networking event for principals, superintendents, and other library stakeholders

* - indicates PDH available

Swank Movie Licensing & Streaming for Education - Swank K–12 Movie Site License + Streaming Plus offers both streaming movie access and copyright protection for your school.
JSTOR and ARTSTOR - RAILS school libraries are eligible for discounts on JSTOR and ARTSTOR.
School Library Journal Professional Development Courses - School Library Journal online courses are designed to provide practical, actionable skills that library staff can apply directly to your work, from readers’ advisory to AI to instruction and behavior management.
Illinois Reliable Information Sources (IRIS) - A free resource from the Illinois State Library. Find thousands of journals, magazines, e-books, and online databases on various topics, from education and health to business and personal growth. You can search or browse databases alphabetically, by subject, or in a special collection just for K-12 students.
Illinois School District Library Grant - A grant designed to support library media services for eligible Illinois public school districts based on qualified school library(s) serving K-12 students.

August 11 – First episode of Can’t Shelve This Season 3 launches
August 25 - Grant Writing with AI: A Practical Guide for Libraries webinar *
September 16 - Illinois School Library Workers Symposium virtual conference *
September 21 – Book Repair Workshop @ Bourbonnais Public Library *
September 22 – Book Repair Workshop @ Joliet Public Library Black Road Branch *
September 23 – Book Repair Workshop @ Woodridge Public Library *
October 1 - School Library Census 2026-2027 opens
October 15 – 2026 Illinois School District Library Grant deadline
November 12-14 – AISLE Annual Conference in Lombard, IL *
November 15 – Deadline for schools for Swank and JSTOR for schools (January 1 start)
January 2027 – Illinois School Library Town Hall online events

* - indicates PDH available

To sign up for RAILS Continuing Education, please make sure to log in with your Library Director & Learning Calendar (L2) account. For questions about L2, please contact help@librarylearning.org.

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For questions, please contact RAILS Communications, communications@railslibraries.org or 630-734-5000.