Sad Day for NSLS

I was saddened to read on the web site of North Suburban Library System http://nsls.info/ that all their full time staff have been laid off. The State Illinois has not paid them for many months and the money from reserves ran out. This was not a surprise since for many weeks they announced that May 31 would be their last day of doom. I thought just some of their staff would be laid off. The shook was that everyone except the delivery van people have been laid off. This included the director, Sarah Long, who was once president of American Library Association.

In Illinois library systems were created to help with resource sharing, continuing education, professional development, networking, and much more. The systems serve all kinds of libraries including public, academic, school and public. All cost were paid by the state; member libraries paid no membership fees. Many years ago I took a class in HTML and was able to prepare my first web site. That first page is still on the web with minor updates even though I have not been with that organization for more than 10 years.

Every week I looked forward to reading announcements and ads concerning what was going on in the north suburban area. They were much more active than the library system that covers the City of Chicago. This blog was listed in their "Reading Room" that featured library oriented blogs. I hope that some how, the State of Illinois will find ways to fix their financial situation so that NSLS can re-open.