Insight

              Special events at the Illinois
State Library commemorating
Black History Month in
February were the subject of a
30-minute television program
that aired on three west
central Illinois Public
Broadcasting System stations.
Illinois Stories, a weekly
program produced and hosted
by Mark McDonald, is
broadcast on stations serving
Springfield, Macomb, Quincy
and west central Illinois. The
program aired three times during the weekend of
February 6-8 and included McDonald interviewing
Charlotte Johnson of the Madison County Historical
Society as they walked through her display of 1800s
African-American History at the State Library. Johnson
provided a historical background of many free blacks
that lived in Illinois during the Reconstruction Period
and black pioneers in America.
The show also included State
Library employees participating
in a Read-In-Chain of
Gwendolyn Brooks' In
Montgomery...and other
poems. In addition, McDonald
interviewed Classie Murray,
storyteller and children's
librarian at Springfield's Lincoln
Library, sharing an African-
American folktale.
Also as part of Black History
Month festivities, presentations
were given on how to use the Africana Web site, and
the State Library’s Patent & Trademark Depository
Library hosted an exhibit showcasing African-
American inventors. The State Library’s Illinois
Diversity Program, a division of the Library
Development Group, organized the library’s Black
History Month events.
March/April
in
this
issue
Black History
Month events
Library
Advocacy Day
Third Synergy
class selected
Upcoming library
conferences
Patent &
Trademark Library
to be featured in
Inventors Digest
Virtual Reference
pilot project
Public TV features Black History Month events
2004
Jesse White • Secretary of State & State Librarian
A Newsletter from the Illinois State Library
INSIGHT Each year hundreds of library professionals convene in Springfield to meet lawmakers and discuss the issues
and needs of libraries. This year Library Advocacy Day begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 21, at the
State Library. Funding for libraries and proposed mandatory statewide Internet filtering legislation are among
the issues lawmakers will consider in 2004. Secretary of State and State Librarian Jesse White, State Library
Director Jean Wilkins and Kip Kolkmeier, ILA legislative consultant, will address attendees.
“This year Library Advocacy Day affords us the opportunity to make our voices heard about the role of
libraries in the 21st century,” said Secretary of State Jesse White. “We know that libraries remain the best and
most reliable source of information for citizens. We need to let lawmakers know how important libraries are
to their constituents and how much libraries depend on state funding for essential operations.”
Library Advocacy Day is sponsored by the Illinois Library Association, the Illinois Library System Directors
Organization and the Illinois School Library Media Association, and hosted by the State Library. Participants
may register at www.illinoislibrarysystems.info/advocacy/register.html. There is no fee to participate.
LIBRARY ADVOCACY DAY — APRIL 21
Classie Murray, children’s librarian at Springfield’s
Lincoln Library, shares an African-American folk
tale with Evon Dionne during a Black History
Month event at the State Library in February.
Be it in medicine, science, the arts or politics, African-Americans have helped shape the culturally diverse
and prosperous nation that we live in today,” said Secretary of State Jesse White. “By celebrating Black
History Month, we help ensure that the contributions of black Americans are preserved in our history books
for years to come and that their dreams and visions continue to inspire future generations.”