Hello, LIRE community —

We have several updates for you this month, including a new resource guide, upcoming events, and more.

But before we dive in, this issue carries some sad news. We lost Beth Ryan this weekend, one of LIRE’s original members and a true friend to this field. We’re honoring her at the close of this newsletter, a small tribute to someone who helped build LIRE from the start.

With that, let’s get into it.

NEW! LIRE Resource Guide

We’re so excited to link you to our new Resource Guide!

This living document has taken the place of the recommended resources on our website, and will allow for easier additions and updates.

If you have any suggestions or notice anything we’re missing, let us know by emailing lirerockford@gmail.com.

Stand Up for School Librarians With LIRE

Our next Lunch & Learn will combine advocacy education with action! Join us on Friday, June 12th, at 2pm for an afternoon of letter writing as we advocate for the necessity of school librarians across the state. A brief presentation/overview of the issue by Gail Meyer, Advocacy Chair of the Association of Illinois School Library Educators will kick off the afternoon, and all of the letters we write will be combined into a public folder on LIRE’s Resource Guide and AISLE’s School Library Advocacy toolbox, for any community in need.

Check out this article for a timely example of this issue.

Events

Recommended On Demand Webinars

• RAILS Academy: Quiet Gaps: Understanding & Addressing Self-Censorship in School Library Collections (April 2025)

Local Issues

Talcott Free Library (Rockton, IL)

After years of tension between board members and the community at the Talcott Free Library in Rockton, word is getting out that some members on the board may not be acting in the library’s best interest. From program to book challenges, public comment (and some comments from board members) have centered on divisive language. Kelly Jensen recently wrote a letter to the editor at the Rockton-Roscoe News, which is worth reading and considering.

Join the Northern Illinois Library Advocacy Facebook Group for monthly or as-needed updates about libraries in the northern half of the state. This is a safe space for library workers and advocates to come together to discuss library issues in the region.

If you would like us to help spread awareness about an issue your library is facing, please reach out to lirerockford@gmail.com.

Other Notes

• ALA’s Public Policy & Advocacy Office has launched new advocacy tools, such as email updates. Make sure you sign up to stay in the loop on national legislation that requires action.

In Memoriam

It is with deep sadness that we received the news of Beth Ryan’s passing this weekend after a battle with ALS. Beth was one of the original members of this community, and her presence shaped LIRE from the very beginning. Beth had a remarkable gift for welcoming people — she drew you into her circles with warmth and humor. She made people feel seen, valued, and like they’d found their community. That spirit of radical inclusion is woven into everything LIRE stands for.

Beth didn't arrive at librarianship the way most people do. She studied business, built a career, and then — in her mid-thirties — did what the best people sometimes do: she followed what she actually loved. In 2003, she walked into the Woodstock Public Library, and the profession got exactly the person it needed.

She wasn't just drawn to books. She was drawn to people. She went back for her Master's degree from UW Madison specifically so she could be a reference librarian — so she could be more involved, more present, more useful to the people who came through those doors with questions. That impulse — to be of service — drove everything she did.

By 2017, she was Director of the Johnsburg Public Library, a role she held with the same warmth and humor she brought to everything. She served on the PrairieCat Administrative Council as Public Library Representative and Treasurer, and by her own account, she spent her days doing whatever was needed — working the desk, running programs, outreach, collection development — and, she was quick to add, "way too much time alone in my office doing director things like cursing and stress eating Milk Duds."

That's Beth. She led with laughter. She made the work feel human.

Her contributions to the field extended far beyond our group. Beth was a true professional in every sense: thoughtful, dedicated, and deeply committed to the communities she served. In a testament to that impact, State Rep. Suzanne Ness recently read an Illinois House resolution honoring Beth’s contributions to the field and her community on the floor of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Beth’s memory will live on in so many ways and through all of us who knew and loved her. The communities she helped build are her legacy.

Rest well, Beth. You are already missed.