January 20th - www.saveillinoislibraries.com

As the economy continues to grind on in low gear, the resulting pain is only intensifying. Public and school libraries woes have been increasingly in the news, but for the most part, academic institutions seemed to be holding their own. Yes, California universities have been ravaged by their state’s budget issues but they seemed like an anomaly rather than a trend. That is until the state of Illinois’ budget crisis brought to the forefront this dilemma—without the promised funding from the state arriving in a timely manner, U of I would be instituting mandatory furlough days.

Today’s post from the LISNew blog’s, the Library Ecosystem, brings together the interconnectivity of libraries. It’s like the canary in a coal mine—we need to heed the warning and understand that the demise of any type of library threatens us all. Type doesn’t matter; all will succumb if we are unable to recognize our connectivity and advocate our importance together.

Now the state of Illinois’ inability to pay its bills has put in jeopardy the key services that Illinois library systems provide. Illinois’ Regional Library Systems are unfunded, and no money has been received this fiscal year, beginning July 1, 2009. Money was allocated by the General Assembly, but payments have not been released. Illinois library systems have already suffered an almost 17% reduction in funding this fiscal year, but the lack of payments has resulted in systems securing lines of credit to keep them up and running.

The impact on libraries in central Illinois will be profound. Without Illinois library systems, libraries of all types across the state will be affected by no van delivery therefore no resource sharing, no staff training or professional development, no Consultants or professional assistance, no advocacy, no state wide public relations or marketing, no system websites to share information, and no assistance with writing grants, special projects or group purchases.

To bring this critical issue to the attention of our elected officials, www.saveillinoislibraries.com is organizing a campaign to contact Governor Quinn and Comptroller Hynes. To participate, visit the www.saveillinoislibraries.com website on January 20th. An easy to use form will pop up on the front page. The goal is 3,000 e-mails each to Comptroller Hynes and Governor Quinn. To make the campaign viral, there is an opportunity to send information about the campaign to additional email addresses. Without cash - and soon - systems are in mortal danger.