News from RAILS & Libraries

As we all know libraries have changed over the years, from e-books, chromebooks, and maker spaces to adding STEAM, reading nests, Lego and Lite Brite walls and so much more. However, one passion of mine has always been to keep real books in the hands of the students. Students need to understand how...

RAILS Music Librarianship Group Quarterly Networking Meeting Can't wait to see you all! This meeting will be announced on our ListServ. Feel free to contact Jodi Gianakopoulos, gianakopoulos@addisonlibrary.org or Colby Maddox, cmaddox@oldtownschool.org about joining our email list. This meeting will...

Scott Grotto has been appointed as the new Director of the River Grove Pubic Library District. Scott comes to River Grove PLD from Aurora Public Library District where he has served as the West Branch Library Manager since 2019. The River Grove staff and board are excited to welcome Scott to the...

ATLAS is excited to present another year of continuing education and professional development. We create exciting educational opportunities across the spectrum of public libraries. Our Middle Managers Round Table meets every other month with a focus on issues and best practices of library middle...

The Macomb High School library was honored to receive the My Library Is... Grant in the amount of $5,000. This grant is sponsored by the RAILS Library System and promotes collaborative projects between libraries and their community. Ms. Pittman’s and Ms. Eddington’s English students visited the...

My school is bilingual. And my library was too . . . sort of. Thanks to the RAILS My Library Is… Grant money, I can now say with confidence that the library is a bilingual space that serves all of our students. Brentano Math and Science Academy is a bilingual school. We have many students who speak...

To meet our community’s growing needs, the Oak Park Public Library partnered with Triton College this spring to offer an eight-week conversational Spanish course for 12 library staff members at the Main Library. The course was designed to help staff provide more responsive customer service and build...

Glen Ellyn Public Library has been selected as the only library in Illinois to host the traveling exhibition, World on the Move: 250,000 Years of Human Migration . The exhibit, developed by the American Anthropological Association and the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, will...

Bradford Public Library District Celebrates 100 Years In October of 1900 fifteen Bradford women met to form a social club. One of their goals was to broaden their reading experience. The ladies each bought a book from Plummer’s Drug Store which was located at the west end of Main Street. After they...

From the My Library Is ... Blog: My school is bilingual. And my library was too . . . sort of. Thanks to the RAILS My Library Is… Grant money, I can now say with confidence that the library is a bilingual space that serves all of our students. Read the full post on the My Library Is ... website.

As part of our Libraries Transforming Communities (LTC): Accessible Small and Rural Communities grant, the Lillie M. Evans Library has added a mural to our community garden area. The mural highlights Princeville and our history as well as our library gardens. We’ve included peonies, pumpkins, the...

The Putnam County Public Library District is thrilled to announce that on Tuesday, July 30th, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., the public is invited to stop by Hopkins Park in Granville, Illinois, to visit the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) Traveling Science Center as part of the Library’s 2024...

Blue Island Public Library is delighted to announce that it has been chosen as to participate in the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s Green Infrastructure Program. Through this partnership, a new green roof will be constructed on the library in 2025. The green roof will assist in absorbing...

“I can’t find anything to read. Nothing interests me. These books are too hard. I do not know where the book is located.” Sound familiar? The My Library Is... Grant provided funding to update and enhance the library collection and reading experience. It also provided colorful new signage to improve...

It is not too late to register for LTA 102 - Basic Information Tools which begins Monday, July 1. You can do a normal 16 week semester course in our 6 week online summer session. Join instructor Jessica Rodrigues to explore adult reference resources, services, skills and instruction. Register here...