Sparks Podcast Reaching Across Illinois Library System

RAILS Executive Director Monica Harris talks with Dan Matthews, Cataloging and Digital Services Librarian at Moraine Valley Community College Library about the benefits of open educational resources and how to get started using OERs.

RAILS Executive Director Monica Harris talks with Kate Hall, Jennifer Czajka, and Mara Barbel from Illinois Libraries Present, a cooperative programming intitative that provides high-quality online events at equitable prices for member libraries. They talk about how ILP was created, the long-term goals for the program, and how your library can take advantage of its benefits. 
Related links:
https://www.illinoislibrariespresent.com/
https://www.illinoislibrariespresent.com/events
https://www.illinoislibrariespresent.com/membership
Intro/Outro music by Julie Jurgens, https://juliejurgens.bandcamp.com/

RAILS (then interim) Executive Director Monica Harris talks with Chicago Public Library (CPL) Commissioner Chris Brown about The Book Sanctuary (committed to protecting banned and challenged books) and the 150th anniversary of CPL. Links:
https://www.booksanctuary.org/ https://www.chipublib.org/news/book-sanctuaries-committed-to-protecting-banned-and-challenge-books/ https://www.chipublib.org/cpl-150-anniversary/ Intro/Outro music by Julie Jurgens, https://juliejurgens.bandcamp.com/

RAILS Interim Executive Director Monica Harris talks with AISLE Executive Secretary Carolyn Kinsella and RAILS Data Research Specialist Janette Derucki about efforts to support school libraries in Illinois, including a statewide partnership and RAILS’ School Library Data Project.
Related Links:
School Library Data Project
Data in Libraries Pulse Page
https://www.railslibraries.info/issues/240560 AISLE (Association of Illinois School Library Educators)
https://aisled.org/# SLIDE – The School Librarian Investigation - Decline or Evolution?
https://libslide.org/ SOPPA – Student Online Personal Protection Act
https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3806&ChapterID=17 Intro/Outro music by Julie Jurgens, https://juliejurgens.bandcamp.com/

RAILS Executive Director Deirdre Brennan talks with Lynn Stainbrook and Leon Smith of Rockford Public library, and Leila Heath of RAILS about Career Online High School, a nationally accredited online high school degree program. Lynn and Leon discuss the program’s tremendous success at their library and how it makes a huge impact on lives. RAILS offers a vendor discount on the scholarships from Smart Horizons to libraries offering this program.
Related Links:
https://www.railslibraries.info/deals/183705 RAILS Deals and Discounts web page for COHS https://www.rockfordpubliclibrary.org/rpls-career-online-high-school/ Rockford’s COHS web page Intro/Outro music by Julie Jurgens, https://juliejurgens.bandcamp.com/

RAILS Executive Director Deirdre Brennan talks with RAILS Data Analysis Manager Grant Halter about how he defines data, demonstrating the library’s value through data, the difference between useful and interesting data, using your strategic plan to develop a survey and gather data, and much more! Relevant Link: https://www.railslibraries.info/issues/240560
Intro/Outro music by Julie Jurgens, https://juliejurgens.bandcamp.com/