By participating in Read for a Lifetime, students will hopefully develop a love of books and reading that will last a lifetime.  Participating high school students read a variety of books; the titles are listed on our web site (see link below).  The list represents a mixture of classic and contemporary literature. Each student who reads at least four titles from the list during the school year receives a certificate of achievement signed by Secretary of State Jesse White.  To enroll your school or public library in Read for a Lifetime, please contact Jeanne Urbanek .

Everything you need to participate is available on the Illinois State Library website.

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)

A special rate of $289.00 is available. In addition, discount prices of $169 on the Internet@Schools Conference (October 25-26) and $289 for the combo of the Internet Librarian general conference and Internet@Schools Conference is also available. Pre-conference seminars and workshops are not included. Find more information on the conference website.

To receive a registration form with special discounted ILLINET member pricing, contact
Jill Heffernan or call Jill at 217-557-3386. To obtain the discount, forms must be returned to Jill by September 24, 2010.

Family Reading Night  is sponsored by Jesse White, Secretary of State and State Librarian. It is a statewide event that encourages families to spend quality time reading together. It is celebrated annually in Illinois on the third Thursday in November.

The display proved to be so popular that we exhibited it in May in the atrium of the Illinois State Library Gwendolyn Brooks Building in conjunction with the History Channel’s Library Outreach program and the 12-hour series, “America: The Story of Us.”

The History Channel has announced that the display has received second place in a national contest run in conjunction with the series.

Congratulations to Alyce Scott and Joe Natale of the ISL and Mark Sorenson of the Illinois State Archives for their research and work on the project.

In order to accommodate this critical feature, the Illinois State Library is providing a temporary set of PDF’s.

Secretary of State IT staff have begun developing a new Internet application which will allow libraries and library systems to enter this information online (similar to what you have done previously via L2). We will keep you abreast of when this new capability will be available.

The continuing education functionality of L2 cannot be sustained by the ISL at this time. Our office will make every effort to support this need in the future.

Please contact Suzanne Schriar, Library Automation and Technology, if you have any questions

Program coordinator Jeanne Urbanek has tallied up statistics for the 2009-2010 school year. 1,111 students and twenty adults took part, representing 71 high school and public libraries. Participants read 5,582 books, or an average of almost five books per reader. Thirty six high school seniors received certificates for taking part all four high school years, and eleven students read all twenty-five titles on this year’s booklist.

The top five most read titles were: Thirteen Reasons Why; Coraline; Perfect Chemistry; The Hunger Games; and The Bridge to Terabithia. Thanks to everyone who made this year’s program a success.

Twelve students were honored for outstanding achievement in developing and improving their literacy skills:

• Breanna Anderson, Peoria County Superintendent/Project U.P.W.A.R.D.
• Patricia Arvizu-Rico, DeLaSalle/Tolton Center, Chicago
• Rosemary Bielarz, Township High School District 214 Community Education, Arlington Heights
• Kim Cash, Frontier Community College, Fairfield
• Alma Kidd, Common Place, Peoria
• Jose Maldonado, Anixter Center, Chicago
• Francisco Nunez, Morton College, Cicero
• Willie Pearl Richardson, Tolton Adult Education Center, Chicago
• Carinna, Victor and Alan Tello, District 214 Community Education, Arlington Heights
• Teresa Wallace, Southwestern Illinois College-Cahokia Even Start, Cahokia

The winners received a $200 check from the Illinois Press Foundation, a plaque presented by Secretary White and a personalized Illinois Blue Book.

Ten outstanding tutors were honored for their contributions in helping literacy students reach their goals:

• Carolyn Day, Southwestern Illinois College, Belleville
• Glenn Fanter, Spoon River College, Canton
• Yolanda Higgens, Literacy Volunteers of America, Project U.P.W.A.R.D., Peoria
• Diana Howard, YWCA Adult Literacy, Pekin
• Lynne Leonard, Township High School District 214 Community Education, Arlington Heights
• Kathy Lyons, Congregation of St. Joseph/School on Wheels, LaGrange Park
• Nicholas Roessler, Anixter Center, Chicago
• Kathleen Sayles, YWCA Adult Literacy, Pekin
• Bonnie Schukai, Lawrence Education Center, Springfield
• Oneita “Nita” Volz, Common Place Family Learning Center, Peoria

The ten winning tutors received a plaque and personalized Illinois Blue Book from Secretary White, and $200 is donated by the Illinois Press Foundation to the literacy program where they serve as volunteer tutors.

“I am honored and privileged to congratulate these outstanding students for their hard work and determination in seeking to enhance their reading and learning skills,” said Secretary White. “Many of them have overcome enormous personal difficulties and obstacles to reach this level of achievement. Theirs are stories of courage and amazing persistence, and we are all inspired by their success.

“I am also enormously proud to recognize our outstanding volunteer tutors for their generosity and encouragement in helping literacy students achieve their utmost potential. It is so important for each of us to give something back to our neighbors and our communities, and these heroes who help improve the lives of their students are a terrific example of the positive impact that comes from volunteerism.”

Students and tutors are nominated from among the 238 local providers who receive literacy grant funding from the Secretary of State/Illinois State Library Literacy Office. Last year adult literacy programs that received grant funding provided educational services to 22,725 adult students. 8,797 volunteer tutors statewide gave nearly 774,000 hours of time to help students develop and enhance their reading, writing, math and language skills. Persons interested in becoming volunteer tutors are urged to contact the Illinois Adult Learning Hotline at 1-800-321-9511.