ILA Seeks Federal Legislative Reforms to Assure the Right to Read Free of Government Surveillance
The ILA Executive Board voted yesterday (Thursday, 16 August 2007) to urge the United States Congress to pursue legislative reforms in order to provide adequate protection for each library user’s Constitutional right to be free from unwarranted and unjustified government surveillance, including:

• Judicial oversight of National Security Letters (NSLs) requiring a showing of individualized suspicion and demonstrating a factual connection between the individual whose records are sought by the FBI and an actual investigation;
• Elimination of the automatic and permanent imposition of a nondisclosure or “gag” order whenever an NSL is served on an individual or institution;
• Allowing recipients of NSLs to receive meaningful judicial review of a challenge to their NSL without deferring to the government’s claims;
• Increased oversight by Congress and the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice over NSLs and FBI activities that implicate the First Amendment; and
• Providing for the management, handling, dissemination and destruction of personally identifiable information obtained through NSLs.

The ILA Executive Board directed the ILA’s Federal Library Legislative and Advocacy Network to communicate this action to the Offices of the President and Vice President, the U.S. Congress, and all Illinois library advocates to ask Congress to restore civil liberties and correct the abuse and misuse of National Security Letters.

In announcing the board’s action last night at the North Suburban Library System’s “Trustee Training Core Course,” ILA Executive Director Robert P. Doyle stated that, “ILA was joining a growing list other state library associations (to date, seventeen have officially taken similar action: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Vermont) in expressing its concerns about National Security Letters.”

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reported it found that the FBI had engaged in widespread and serious abuses of its authority to use NSLs. Doyle noted that, “the laws authorizing the use of NSLs automatically impose a permanent nondisclosure or ‘gag’ order on any recipient of an NSL, making it illegal for individuals or organizations to ever reveal that they have been asked to provide records or information to the FBI and requiring NSL recipients to risk fines and imprisonment in order to report any abuse of government authority, abrogating the recipients’ First Amendment rights.”

While ILA took this action yesterday regarding a federal issue, we continue to monitor very closely the Illinois General Assembly, particularly for any budgetary developments, and we will inform the Illinois library community immediately of any actions.

Update on the 2007 ILA Annual Conference, 9-12 October, Springfield
Plans are progressing well for the upcoming ILA Annual Conference. To date, 130 vendors and 579 individuals have registered for the conference. Early bird registration is now closed, but Advance Registration is open until Monday, 10 September. The numbers, so far, are as follows:

Preconferences

17 Fundraising for Success
19 Tomorrow’s Libraries Today
10 What the Heck Are We Supposed to Know?
15 Fun Fair for Library Programs
21 Passing Tax-Related Referenda
22 Visual Scanning for Future-Oriented Libraries
10 Honor Their Service - Preserve Their Stories

(With these registration numbers, it seems that all preconferences will be held, i.e., we will not have to cancel due to low registrations.)

Wednesday, 10 October

50 Reference Services Forum Luncheon
32 Trustee Forum Luncheon
30 Diversity in Libraries Tea

Thursday, 11 October

89 Youth Services Author Breakfast
29 IACRL Luncheon
63 Public Library Forum Luncheon
162 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum

Friday, 12 October

127 Illinois Authors’ Luncheon

Registrations

464 Full Conference
44 Wednesday
64 Thursday
7 Friday

Exhibits at the 2007 ILA Annual Conference
Free exhibit passes will be available onsite at the Prairie Capital Convention Center. Join our exhibitors on Wednesday, 10 October, for an opening luncheon reception from 12:30 to 2:00 P.M. and a cookie break from 3:00 to 3:30 P.M. On Thursday, 11 October, visit the exhibits for complimentary coffee from 10:30 to 11:30 A.M. and a closing lunch reception from 12:30 to 2:00 P.M. Exhibit Hours: Wednesday, 10 October, from 12:30 to 5:00 P.M. and Thursday, 11 October, from 9:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. Please note that exhibits will not be open on Friday, October 12.

Book Cart Drill Team -- 2007 State Championship, Sponsored by DEMCO
The 2007 Book Cart Drill Team State Champion will be crowned at the ILA Annual Conference in Springfield on Wednesday, 10 October from 5:00 to 6:30 P.M. in the Prairie Capital Convention Center.

We need teams from your library to join the fun and compete. We also need volunteers to help with the competition logistics.

The Master of Ceremonies for the competition will be Keith Michael Fiels, ALA Executive Director. Judges include John Ison from DEMCO, ILA President Brad Baker, and Allen Lanham from Eastern Illinois University. Prizes will be awarded for artistic impression, technical skills, best costumes, best cart decorations, and more. Best of all -- the Illinois State Champion will be invited to compete in the ALA World Championship at the 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim. Next stop Hollywood!

The deadline for registration is Friday, 14 September. To register, fill out the application form on page 39 of the preliminary conference program.

You can contact co-chairs Dee Brennan (dbrennan@oppl.org) at the Oak Park Public Library and Rebecca Teasdale (rteasdale@stdl.org) at the Schaumburg Township District Library if you have questions, or if you want to volunteer.

Next ILA Executive Board Meeting
The ILA Executive Board will be meeting Friday, 21 September, Ramada Limited, 3281 Northfield Dr., Springfield, IL 62702; phone: 217-523-4000; fax: 217-523-4080. The ILA Executive Board meeting is open to the public. It will begin at 10:00 A.M. Your attendance and participation is welcomed. Written suggestions and comments are also most welcomed.