<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif" style="">You may have heard about Illinois House Bill 2789, the Right to Read or Anti Book Banning Bill. AISLE has been involved in the development of the bill and endorses the legislation.<span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap"> The bill requires school and public libraries to adopt policies against censorship and book banning in order to receive grants from the Illinois State Library. This includes the School District Library Grant commonly referred to as the “school library per capita grant.” The bill passed out of committee on Wednesday, March 8. The Illinois Secretary of State, as state librarian, is promoting this bill along with the Illinois State LIbrary.</span></font></div><span id="m_4734629612814308074gmail-docs-internal-guid-444da418-7fff-e4d3-8df0-f4bf9673c53e"><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This bill follows the ideas expressed in the </span><a href="https://sites.google.com/aisled.org/intellectual-freedom/aisle-position-statement?authuser=0" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">AISLE Position Paper on Censorship</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> approved on 12/16/21, which can be found on the AISLE website under </span><a href="https://sites.google.com/aisled.org/intellectual-freedom/" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Intellectual Freedom</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. As you know, most Illinois schools and school libraries have statements on materials selection, reconsideration, l</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">ibrary media programs, etc. in the School Board Policy Manual (usually found on the school website under school board) and in library policies and procedures. <span class="gmail_default" style="">Public librarians usually have selection policies adopted by the board of trustees as part of the policy manual. </span><span class="gmail_default" style="">AISLE encourages all librarians to</span> take the time to <span class="gmail_default" style="">become familiar </span>with these policies.  This is also an opportune time to promote the hiring of </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">certified school librarians who are trained in proper procedures for selecting materials.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><span class="gmail_default" style=""></span></span><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);white-space:pre-wrap">As an individual Illinois resident you may write to your elected representatives concerning this bill.  There were over 850 witness slips in favor of the bill submitted prior to the committee vote.  I listened to the committee discussion and t<span class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;font-size:small">he number of</span> proponent slips made an impact. </span></p><br><div class="gmail_default" style="">Book Riot published a comprehensive article about the bill that can can be found at: </div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><span class="gmail_default" style=""><a href="https://bookriot.com/illinois-right-to-read-bill/" target="_blank">https://bookriot.com/illinois-right-to-read-bill/</a></span><br></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If you have any questions, concerns, or problems, please contact Carolyn Kinsella, AISLE executive secretary at </span><a href="mailto:execsecretary@aisled.org" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">execsecretary@aisled.org</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> or Lou Ann Jacobs, legislative function representative at </span><a href="mailto:legislation@aisled.org" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">legislation@aisled.org</span></a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. AISLE is here to help and support you. </span></p></font></span><div class="gmail_default" style=""><font face="arial, sans-serif"><br></font></div><div><div dir="ltr" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Carolyn Kinsella</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">AISLE Executive Secretary</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">P.O. Box 110</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">Seneca, IL  61360</font></div><div><font face="arial, sans-serif">PH: 815-357-6023</font></div><div><br></div><div><img width="200" height="70" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/mail-sig/AIorK4xPxEazl9gIjVo0s6Kx-tzMh2KLxwMDAzyk4nQdcJF8lzTT5EQKSS033hoWr8Fe2jQWCVAbfEg"><br></div><div><br></div><br></div></div></div></div>