“The state of Illinois has some of the finest literacy programs in the nation, and I am pleased to provide 171 local literacy providers with funding that will allow them to help adult students achieve their utmost potential,” White said.  “Nearly 23,000 students are served by these programs.  8,800 volunteer tutors generously offer their time to provide training.  Our local literacy programs allow students to obtain skills that put them on the path to lifelong learning.  I will continue to do all I can to ensure that every citizen of this state has access to quality literacy programs.”

The Adult Literacy Program is administered by the Secretary of State/Illinois State Library Literacy Office and awards grants in three categories:

• Adult Volunteer Literacy Grants provide training for volunteers who tutor adults over the age of 16 in basic reading, math, writing or language skills. Participating literacy providers may include libraries, volunteer tutoring organizations, community based organizations, community colleges, regional offices of education, schools (individual & public), pre-school programs, school districts, domestic violence shelters, and correctional facilities.
• Family Literacy Grants provide educational services to parents and children to enhance their basic reading, math, writing or language skills together and separately. Participation by the whole family increases the benefits of the instruction. Projects must partner with an adult literacy provider, child-at-risk agency and a library.
• The Workplace Skills Enhancement Project provides on-site instructional services to the employees of Illinois businesses to enable the employees to increase their basic reading, math, writing or language skills, keep their jobs and increase their chances for promotion. Eligible employees read at or below the 9th grade level. Grantees must match the grant award and may also provide instructional services to prospective employees. The fiscal agent and submitting agency may be either the educational partner or the business partner.

Secretary White urges persons interested in becoming volunteer tutors to contact the Illinois Adult Learning Hotline at 1-800-321-9511.

For many years, the State Library has used federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to provide statewide continuing education (CE) programs to the library community.  These programs include Synergy, the Illinois Library Leadership Initiative; the Small Public Library Management Institute; the Institute for School and Public Librarians; and the On the Front Lines Conference.  LSTA money has also been used to provide 15 scholarships each year to students entering library school.‪‪

As FY11 progresses, my staff and I have determined that we may need all available LSTA funding to preserve Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White’s foremost library priorities:  delivery of materials, maintenance of the catalogs at the state’s regional library systems, and the Talking Book libraries.  Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes’ website states that the payment cycle is now at 150+ working days, in comparison to about 100 this time last year.  Given what we know right now, FY11 will be even more challenging for service providers like the library systems than was FY10.  As a result, we have made the difficult decision to put our traditional CE programs and scholarships on hold during FY11, excluding programs already underway and scholarships already announced.  One State Library CE program, ILEAD U, is operated with a three-year Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian competitive award;  ILEAD U will continue through 2012.

My staff and I believe that funding must be available throughout FY11 to support delivery, the catalogs and the Talking Book Centers. Our patrons have made it clear to all of us that prompt delivery of library materials is their paramount concern.  And if our catalogs cease functioning, there will be no materials to deliver. Secretary White is focused on ensuring that resource sharing is supported for the duration of this fiscal crisis and beyond.

The Illinois Library and Information Science Training Grant Program, administered by the Illinois State Library, provides grants each year to college graduates who possess exceptional academic achievement and an interest in becoming librarians. More than 500 students have received the grant since the program was implemented.  The fifteen scholarships may be used for either full or part-time studies at an American Library Association-accredited graduate library school.

“The state of Illinois is a national leader in developing libraries and librarians, and this grant program provides outstanding graduate students with some of the financial resources they need to obtain their Masters degree,” said White. “I am proud to congratulate these talented future librarians.”

Grant recipients are required to work the equivalent of two full years in service to the Illinois library community within the first three years following graduation. As a result, these grants benefit both the student recipients and the state’s library community.

Eight of the recipients will pursue their Masters degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign Graduate School of Library and Information Science.  They are:

• Irene M. Ciciora of Oak Lawn   
• Brigitta K. Denning of Western Springs
• Dana M. Fine of Princeton
• Maria V. Ford of Tonica
• Devin C. Higgins of Chicago
• Jamie R. Jones of Henry
• Jennifer Matters of Kankakee
• Stephanie L. Miller of Chicago

Two students will obtain their degrees at the Graduate School of Library and Information  Science at Dominican University in River Forest.  They are:

• Mosi Kamau of Chicago
• Vadim Seyfer of Glenview

Five students will obtain their degrees at schools outside the state of Illinois.  They are:

• Adam J. Carey of Naperville (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
• Blaine C. Cornelius of Belvidere (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
• Violet A. Jaffe of Arlington Heights (University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa)
• Micah F. Rademacher of Chicago (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
• Nikeda F. Webb of Bourbonnais (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Per Capita Grant funding helps ensure that public libraries have some of the resources they need to address the needs of their patrons. Libraries count on Per Capita Grants for expenses such as paying for material, personnel, equipment, electronic access, telecommunications and technology.

Equalization Aid Grants are important because they help public libraries which have a low library tax base, and help ensure a minimum level of funding for library services. Grant applications are to be legibly postmarked on or before October 15, 2010, or hand delivered to the Illinois State Library no later than 4:30 p.m. on October 15, 2010.

For additional information contact Mary Downing  or Jeanne Urbanek.

“Every year students across the nation write letters to authors, living or deceased, describing how a book positively impacted their life,” said White. “Anyone who has read these letters can see how literature inspires and touches the lives of our young people. Students truly enjoy this contest, and I hope thousands of Illinois students will participate this year.”

There are three levels of participation – Level I for grades 4-6, Level II for grades 7 & 8 and Level III for grades 9 – 12. Each participating state will select a winning letter for each competition level. The three Illinois winners will receive a $50 Target gift card, plaque and United States savings bond from the Illinois Center for the Book. They will also read their letters at a special reception hosted by Secretary White.

Winners also advance to national competition, where two national winners and four national honorable mentions will be selected for each competition level. The six national winners will receive a $500 Target GiftCard, and each will secure a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant in their name for his or her community or school library so that others can experience personal relationships with authors and the stories they tell. The twelve honorable mentions will each receive a $100 Target GiftCard, and each will secure a $1,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant in their name for his or her community or school library.

The deadline to enter the competition is December 10, 2010. State winners will be announced in April 2011. For more information about the competition, contact Bonnie Matheis or call Bonnie at 217-558-2065.

Information can also be found at the Illinois Center for the Book website. Target sponsors “Letters About Literature” as part of its national reading initiative, “Ready. Sit. Read!,” which is aimed at fostering a love of reading among children at an early age. Since opening its first store in 1962, Target has partnered with nonprofit organizations, guests and team members to help meet community needs.

Last year the General Assembly’s budget process resulted in severe cuts to programs such as the public library per capita, school library per capita, and system area per capita grant programs. In order to minimize the impact of these cuts to longstanding programs such as delivery and resource sharing, Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White decided to use LSTA grant funds from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to provide some budget relief to libraries.

The Illinois State Library will once again shutter the LSTA competitive grant program and use LSTA funds to help fund programs such as delivery and critical resource sharing services.

Additionally, EBSCO recently acquired OCLC’s NetLibrary Division. EBSCO plans to maintain and enhance the NetLibrary platform and will integrate NetLibrary e-books into the EBSCO host platform. Service to libraries will not be interrupted. Additionally, OCLC is no longer a reseller of vendor-owned databases; they plan to discontinue the sale of these third party databases once current subscriptions have ended.

For many years, the Illinois State Library has subsidized statewide access to the databases in the OCLC Base Package. The current Illinois group subscription ends June 30, 2011.

Following is a list of databases that are included in the FirstSearch (Base Package) platform:

• OCLC WorldCat
• OCLC Electronic Books Online
• OCLC Archive Grid
• OCLC Article First
• CAMIO
• OCLC Electronic Collections Online (bibliographic index only)
• OAIster
• OCLC Papers First
• OCLC Proceedings First
• WorldCat Dissertations and Theses
• Clase/Periodica
• ERIC
• GPO
• MEDLINE
• World Almanac

For details about other databases that have not been part of the Base Package, please refer to the OCLC website.

GRIDLEY — Gridcom Dialup Service, 16, Gridley, died at 7:56 a.m. Thursday (July 15, 2010) at the Gridley Telephone Office where it resided. No services will be held.
 
Gridcom Dialup Service started its life as a library grant back in 1994. Over the years it has been used by over 700 users and at one time could support 96 concurrent connections. It will be missed, but only by those who have never experienced a high-speed Internet connection.
 
It was preceded in death by ReachDSL, and the UE IMAS DSLAM. Surviving are ADSL, fixed-wireless, and fiber-to-the-home.