iREAD Committee Illinois Library Association

News

Member Spotlight - Ellen Fitzgerald: March 25, 2024; This week's member spotlight is on Ellen Fitzgerald. Ellen is the Children's Services Supervisor at the Nichols branch of the Naperville Public Library. Ellen is the current chair of the iREAD Committee and previously served on the ILA…
Member Spotlight - Donna Block: September 11, 2023; This week's member spotlight is on Donna Block. Donna is the youth services coordinator at the Bensenville Community Public Library. She is a long-time member of the iREAD Committee and currently serves as its chair. We asked Donna to…
Committee Spotlight - iREAD Committee: April 16, 2021; Read on the Wild Side. Reading by Design. Dig Deeper: Read, Investigate, Discover. These are just a few examples of some excellent summer reading program themes created by ILA's very own iREAD team. The chances are that your library, along with…

Committee Charge

The Illinois Reading Enrichment and Development (iREAD) program is a coordinated, self-supporting effort to develop and provide high quality, low cost resources, and products to enable local library staff to promote reading. The program’s primary audience is kindergarten through grade eight, but provides supplemental materials for preschoolers, teens, and adults.

The program’s goals are:

• to provide a program that supports local library efforts to promote literacy and lifelong learning;

• to provide a forum for grassroots involvement across the state;

• to encourage statewide participation in and use of the iREAD theme;

• to encourage efficient use of local staff time by networking resources across the state;

• to provide high-quality, low-cost products through volume purchase; and

• to provide resources and projects suitable for all sizes of libraries; rural, urban, and suburban.

Committee Composition

The committee is composed of up to twenty ILA members: three chairs (chair, developing chair, and future chair); an ambassador, who is the immediate past chair; and sixteen coordinators with specifically assigned roles and responsibilities: two Resource Guide Coordinators (one Adult Services and one Youth Services) for upcoming Resource Guide Development and two Resource Guide Coordinators (one Adult Services and one Youth Services) assisting and learning the process for the following development year; two Showcase Coordinators - upcoming themed year and the following themed year; two Publicity coordinators - upcoming themed year and the following themed year; six Liaisons & RG Chapter Lead Coordinators - two Adult, two Young Adult, and two Youth Services.

Chairs will serve a three year term as chairs and one year term as ambassador. The Resource Guide Coordinators will serve a three-year staggered term. The rest of the coordinators will serve a two-year staggered term. The chairs select the incoming chair, subject to approval by the ILA Vice President/President-Elect.