News from RAILS & Libraries

Keeping students engaged with the library during the pandemic has been challenging. Over the past year as the building was closed or offered reduced hours, we haven’t been able to serve as the traditional third place where students can visit after school, gather to study, or meet for programs...

In 2020, the Illinois Community of the Special Libraries Association (SLA) faced a new challenge: how to make members feel engaged and connected to their association and fellow members when in-person events were no longer an option. As president-elect, I was responsible for the bulk of our...

Deepening community connections in a pandemic is no easy task, so it was a win-win when Rock Island Public Library found an opportunity to help digitally under-served Rock Island-Milan School District #41 students connect to remote and blended learning, and also increase their access to digital...

When we have a message we want to share with the public, we turn to our list of what I like to think of as tools, and decide which will best help us get the word out. Depending on the message, we use a combination (or all!) of these tools: social media posts, print and electronic newsletter blurbs...

My Library Is... Conversation with Nancy Ashbrook RAILS Member Engagement Manager Dan Bostrom speaks with Nancy Ashbrook, Executive Director, Ella Johnson Memorial Public Library District about their online programs and unique approach to marketing. To see more, make sure to subscribe to the Ella...

Lake Forest Library and Lake Bluff Public Library are proud to present their joint nonfiction reading program called Read Between the Ravines. This Two Communities, One Nonfiction Book program brings together Lake Forest and Lake Bluff with the purpose of enhancing nonfiction literacy and inspiring...

Textbook affordability and accessibility issues are not new. We have seen alarming articles on how the rising costs of required course materials is overburdening college students and thwarting their efforts to achieve their educational and professional goals. But academic libraries are stepping up...

My Library Is part of a group of small libraries in rural west central Illinois that has been focusing on Early Childhood Literacy with the support of the Tracy Family Foundation. Prior to March 2020 most of the participating libraries had expanded our programming and services for children 0-5 and...

As March marches in, I can't help but think where I was a year ago--give or take a week. As I reflect upon the bustling school library I left, and the one I am currently in, I have to work hard to conjure up what was. Pandemically speaking, I (and dare I say many of my school librarian colleagues)...

At the end of 2020, Hudson Area Public Library District found a hopeful and fun fact while reviewing patron statistics. Out of 977 active patron cards, 955 of those cards had been used in the prior six months. While their world was closing in, patrons – almost all of them – were using their cards to...

We are all born with an innate creative spirit. As humans, we have the instinctive drive to create, and as someone who works in early literacy and with young children, my job is to nurture that creative spirit in our youngest library patrons. When I plan programs, my primary goal always revolves...

The staff at the Princeton Public Library held a New Year’s Eve Non-event fundraiser this past December. We thought it would be an apropos way to bring a laugh to the community and say goodbye to 2020. A non-event stresses the benefit of staying home over the inconveniences and expenses of attending...

Representatives from Quincy Public Library (QPL) recently sat down and Zoomed in for a RAILS Sparks podcast to discuss their successful marketing campaign to stave off library budget cuts. QPL’s Executive Director Kathleen Helsabeck and Assistant Director & Marketing Coordinator Burgundy Hill talked...

No matter what your position is within your organization, sooner or later, you are going to be approached to write something. It may be a description for an upcoming program, a press release, a grant proposal, or something as simple as an email to a patron or colleague. For some, writing any of...

At first, I thought our knitting and crochet group, Pins & Needles, was just group of good friends who liked to get together, knit and chat. It turns out that that's not all the ladies come for and it's not even their only goal. I came to find out they have created hundreds of assorted warm items...