Illinois State Library

NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM

In July 2009, Governor Pat Quinn signed legislation approved this spring by lawmakers authorizing the Secretary of State to award $50 million in new grants to public libraries for permanent capital improvements. At a time when so many Illinois public libraries face critical capital improvement needs, this infusion of new funding represents a major step forward in our collective efforts to maintain public libraries as cornerstones of our communities.

The State Library has received numerous inquiries about how this exciting new program will be administered. The steps to bring this new program to fruition have just begun. Initial activities include the development and administration of a statewide survey of all Illinois public libraries (survey results); the drafting of Administrative Rules to govern the program; the determination of eligibility based on a mathematical formula included in the legislation; and the State's offering and sale of bonds to finance the program.

The State Library has received numerous inquiries about how this exciting new program will be administered. The steps to bring this new program to fruition have just begun. Initial activities include the development and administration of a statewide survey of all Illinois public libraries; the drafting of Administrative Rules to govern the program; the determination of eligibility based on a mathematical formula included in the legislation; and the State's offering and sale of bonds to finance the program.

The Secretary of State's office and the State Library have begun to address these issues, and as soon as plans are formulated we will share the pertinent information with the ten regional library systems and the public libraries of Illinois. We will let you know the very latest developments in our weekly electronic newsletter. We anticipate this new program offering to begin in the Spring of 2010.

This new program is in addition to $810,000 appropriated to the Secretary of State for grants awarded under the annual Live and Learn Library Construction Grant Program for FY2010 administered by the Illinois State Library. Once budgetary issues are resolved, this program's offerings will be announced.

We will share all new information regarding both of these public library construction grant programs in the Illinois State Library weekly electronic newsletter as it becomes available.