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Local government documents:
A new project for libraries

A PROJECT to make the job of locating and maintaining local documents collections much easier for libraries is nearing completion. The Local Documents Project, sponsored by the Illinois Regional Library Council, opened its office at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle in 1976 and will close its doors on May 15. During the last two years the project staff has worked to focus attention on a much neglected area of public information — local documents.

According to project director Yuri Nakata, the term 'local documents' refers specifically to those materials issued by municipalities, counties, townships, villages, special districts, school boards and park districts. The documents encompass such items as municipal codes, building codes, zoning ordinances, annual reports of agencies, financial reports, proceedings of boards and commission reports.

There is general agreement among librarians that local documents can be vital sources of public information. Yet at the present time, this rather large body of literature is not in the collections of many Illinois libraries because of the difficulties involved in acquisition, housing and organization of these materials for civic use. The current situation deprives citizens of easy access to information about local government services and legislative processes in Illinois.

Making local librarians and governmental units more aware of the benefits of a local documents collection was a major goal of the project. Another goal was improving access to local information so that present library services will extend to the citizens of a community. Project staff members feel that libraries should be responsible for collecting the documents of their own governmental units and that recognition of the information needs of a community is essential before this can take place. Where else can answers to questions on tenant rights, bicycle paths, area parks, zoning laws, traffic regulations and minutes of school board meetings be obtained at one location?

Workshops on how to acquire, organize and service a collection of local documents were held by the project staff. As a result of these sessions, a committee of librarians is preparing a manual on the organization and servicing of local documents collections. Scheduled for completion this fall, the manual will be available to all libraries who wish to start a collection of local government documents. Also being compiled is a directory of public libraries in the Chicago metropolitan area detailing the scope and size of local documents collections. Information on both the manual and the directory can be obtained by writing the Illinois Regional Library Council, 425 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1303, Chicago, Ill., 60611. If the project is successful, citizens interested in local government may soon have information available to them in the collections of their local libraries.

— Greg Mansfield

May 1978/Illinois Issues/7


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