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Portrait of the Illinois Trustee Community Trustee: n. 1. "A person to whom another's property or the management of another's property is entrusted ... 3. Any of a group or board of persons appointed to manage the affairs of an institution or organization". This is the definition contained in the Webster's New World Dictionary. How does this definition relate to the trustees in the Illinois library community? The State Library decided to find out. There are more than 4,800 trustees of the public libraries in Illinois. For years there was no clear picture or profile of the Illinois public library trustee community. We knew how many there were and that some were appointed and some elected. Other than that, it was an educated guess as to what made them tick and what was of interest to them. A key objective of the Illinois State Library is how best to provide meaningful and timely educational opportunities for various constituencies within the library community. Public library trustees have always been a vital component of this community. In August 1998, the State Library developed a detailed survey for trustees and mailed it to the 4,805 public and district library trustees. The purpose of the survey was to provide current and accurate data on who Illinois trustees are, their life experiences, background and, perhaps most important, input from them regarding continuing education opportunities they would like to see offered in the future. The results are in! The response was outstanding. Nearly 1,200 surveys were completed and returned to us. This is a 25% return rate, and for the purposes of this article, we assume this to be a true statistical representation of the Illinois trustee community. A copy of the survey with the responses broken out is attached at the end of this article. Demographics of the Illinois library trustee
• 70% are women, 30% men. Membership in library associations and their trustee divisions:
• Illinois Library Association - 28%Service on a regional library system board: • Currently on a library system board - 6% Preferred location for continuing educational experiences:
• At local library - 34% How far would you travel to attend a trustee program?
• 30 miles or less one-way - 39% Best day of the week:
• Saturday-28% Number of continuing education programs attended in past year:
• None-72% * H. Neil Kelley, Trustee Education and Systems Consultant, Illinois State Library, Springfield. 222 Topics requested for future trustee programs:
• Budget and finance - 11 % The survey found that more than 25 percent of the Illinois trustee community has an e-mail address. The State Library is exploring the establishment of a mailing list for them to join. This would help contacting them as a group regarding continuing educational opportunities and other matters that would be of interest to them. Now that the data regarding the Illinois trustee community has been collected and reported, what does it tell us? It gives us a clear picture of what topics are of interest to the respondents for future programs. Budget, finance and basic trustee training will be given first consideration during the development of program content. It is helpful to know that nearly three-quarters of the trustees have served 10 years or less on their boards. It is part of the trustee profile we will attempt to meet the needs of. Nearly 50 respondents requested a focus on issues that matter to small public libraries. Library size does not dictate which issues are germane; all libraries face the same issues. The only difference is when and to what degree. No trustee should ever pass on a meeting due to feeling the content does not apply. It is difficult to decide how best to offer programs to trustees. All are volunteers; most working during the week. Traditionally, Saturdays have been the best day to offer these programs. In years past, a daylong program offered in the Bloomington area was developed for trustees. It became a tradition and was well attended. Trustees were able to share the same information with trustees in locations all over the state simultaneously while providing the chance for participants to phone in questions. There is no time and location that will work for all that wish to attend, but every effort will be made to make future programs responsive to the feedback received in the survey. We are in negotiation with a dynamic speaker for next spring's trustee videoconference and investigating other venues for offerings. One thing that was obvious as we studied the data from the survey is the level of interest and dedication that the Illinois trustee community represents. More than a quarter million hours are donated by trustees each year to help make library service in Illinois the best in the nation. Those hours translate into the equivalent of 148 people working full time for an entire year. If you are a library trustee, you should be proud to be part of a group that makes a vital contribution to the quality of life in Illinois. If you have ever thought about becoming a trustee but hesitated for any reason, give it a try. With the increasing use of teleconferences, we have room for new ideas and a fresh perspective. Talk to your librarian, call some friends and get involved. Investigate being appointed or getting on the ballot. Life is a long educational process, and there will be several great opportunities in the future for you to meet trustees from other libraries and systems, hear some stellar speakers and ask questions. The Illinois State Library, the regional library systems, and the Illinois Library Association offer educational opportunities for trustees. A concentrated effort will be made to coordinate the offerings of these three providers to best serve the trustee community. Thank you to all those library trustees who participated in the survey. It is through your taking that time we have a better picture of what comprises an Illinois library trustee and, most important, how better the State Library can support. A special thanks to Jill Heffeman, Susan Goodman and the support staff for inputting the survey forms. 223
YEARS SERVED ON BOARD:
LIFE INTEREST:
DOES THE LIBRARY REIMBURSE MEMEBERSHIP DUES: YES 315 NO 223 PARTIAL 8 CURRENT SYSTEM BOARD MEMBERS: 72 PAST SYSTEM BOARD MEMBERS: 85 224
LOCATION FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION
MILES WILL TRAVEL:
HOW MANY HAVE YOU PARTICIPATED IN:
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