Continuing Education Committee Presents: Banning Book Banning: Illinois Public Act 103-0100 and how this groundbreaking amendment to the Illinois Library System Act came to be – Wednesday, January 24th at Noon

Banning Book Banning: Illinois Public Act 103-0100 and how this groundbreaking amendment to the Illinois Library System Act came to be

Headline, March 8, 2023: Giannoulias to Libraries: We’re United Against Banning Books.  State’s Librarian vows to protect free speech, access to books

“Amid coordinated efforts throughout the nation to ban books from library shelves, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has drafted first-in-the-nation legislation designed to support public and school libraries and librarians as they face unprecedented censorship of books and resources in Illinois.” https://www.ilsos.gov/news/2023/march/230308d1.pdf

Did you know that Illinois is the first—and, at the moment, only–state to legally preclude a library from obtaining state grants if it censors its materials? That legislation, passed into law last June and effective as of January 1, 2024, amends the Illinois Library System Act to prohibit the practice of banning specific books or resources.

Do you want to find out HOW IT ALL WENT DOWN? Join us at noon on Wednesday, January 24 for a panel featuring the movers-and-shakers behind House Bill 2789: the two legislators who became the original co-sponsors of the bill and the librarians who helped draft the legislation. The focus of our conversation will be on the origin, development, and ultimate passage of this historic and important enactment.

Presenters:

The Legislators:

Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines) represents Illinois’s 28th Senate District and was the Chief Senate Sponsor of HB2789. Senator Murphy has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Illinois State University and has over two decades of experience in health care and social services management.

Representative Anne Stava-Murray (D-Downers Grove), serving Illinois’s 81st District, sponsored HB2789 in the Illinois House of Representatives after a school board in her district was subject to pressure to ban certain content from school libraries. Rep. Stava-Murray graduated from Dartmouth College and was the former commissioner on the Naperville Board of Fire and Police.

The Librarians:

Cyndi Robinson is the Executive Director of the Illinois Library Association. As well as her work with Illinois libraries, Cyndi is also involved on the national level, particularly on intellectual freedom advocacy. Cyndi has a BA in History from Loyola University Chicago and a Master of Library and Information Science from Dominican University.

Carolyn Kinsella is the Executive Secretary for the Association of Illinois School Library Educators (AISLE) and a retired high school librarian. Carolyn worked closely with the Illinois Secretary of State’s staff to draft HB2789, and, with AISLE, collaborates with other organizations to support libraries facing book bans.

 

When: Wednesday, January 24th, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Where: At your desk via Zoom. Registrants will receive webinar details prior to the program.

Video Recording: Video is available here.

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2024/01/05/continuing-education-committee-presents-banning-book-banning-illinois-public-act-103-0100-and-how-this-groundbreaking-amendment-to-the-illinois-library-system-act-came-to-be-wednesday-january-24t/

Leveraging Data Science to Improve the Practice of Law

Please join us for our upcoming continuing education event…a talk by Pablo Arredondo titled “Leveraging Data Science to Improve the Practice of Law” via Zoom at noon on Tuesday, December 12th.  Pablo will discuss the history and technology of Large Language Models and how they are being applied in law.

Pablo Arredondo is Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Casetext, a legal technology company that develops sophisticated research and drafting tools to improve access to legal research and help attorneys practice more efficiently. Pablo’s innovations, including Casetext’s pioneering brief analysis tool, CARA A.I., have been recognized by the World Economic Forum, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the American Bar Association. In addition to his groundbreaking contributions at Casetext, Pablo is a CodeX Fellow at the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, where he focuses on civil litigation in common law jurisdictions, with an emphasis on how litigators access and assemble the law.

We hope you can make this engaging talk on legal AI from someone who’s done important work in the area.

Please Register here

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2023/12/06/leveraging-data-science-to-improve-the-practice-of-law/

November 2023 Business Meeting

November 2023 Business Meeting
Meeting Date: Thursday, November 16, 2023

Please register here.

Location: Zoom (more details to follow)

Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Please stay on Zoom after the meeting to network and catch up with CALL friends.)

Speaker: Unfortunately our speaker had to cancel—we hope to arrange a continuing education event with him before the year is out. The business meeting will proceed with our usual announcements, and then we’ll move to breakout rooms for focused discussion.

Community Service Project: Greater Chicago Food Depository

In connection with the November business meeting, the Community Service Committee is working to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository. The Food Depository is Chicago’s food bank, partnering with over 700 local agencies and programs, including pantries, soup kitchens and shelters for children, older adults and veterans. Every day they distribute over 267,000 meals, relying heavily on donors and volunteers to make it happen.

The Community Service Committee encourages CALL members to support the Greater Chicago Food Depository by making a monetary contribution in conjunction with the November Business Meeting. You can make a donation online at https://myfooddrives.org/team/538448

A packing event is also being planned at GCFD for January, but date is still TBD.

Door Prizes: Two gift cards will be raffled during the meeting courtesy of LexisNexis.

Registration ends November 15th.

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2023/10/27/november-2023-business-meeting/

September 2023 Business Meeting

The Meetings Committee is excited to announce that registration is now open for the September 2023 Business Meeting.

September 2023 Business Meeting
Meeting Date: Wednesday September 20, 2023

Please register here.

Location: Maggiano’s Little Italy. 516 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60654
Time: Registration & Networking starts at 11:30, lunch begins at 12:00 Noon

Cost: $30.00

Speaker:

Steven D. Schwinn is a professor of law at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law, where he teaches constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, human rights, civil rights, and legal writing. He writes regularly for the ABA Preview of United States Supreme Court Cases, and occasionally for other periodicals and blogs. He regularly works with high-school teachers and classes on constitutional and public-policy issues.

At this meeting, he will discuss under-the-radar cases in the upcoming Supreme Court term, recent trends in the Court’s decision-making, and the Court’s citations to uncommon sources. 

Menu: 

APPETIZERS:

  • Crispy Zucchini Fritte
  • Calamari Fritte
  • Italian Tossed Salad
  • Ciabatta Rolls

ENTREES:

  • Eggplant Parmesan
  • Parmesan-Crusted Cod
  • Mom’s Meat Lasagna, Marinara

DESSERT

  • New York Style Cheesecake
  • Fresh Fruit Plate

Community Service Project:

In conjunction with the September Business Meeting, the Community Service Committee encourages CALL members to make a monetary donation to SitStayRead, a Chicago-based non-profit working to advance children’s literacy skills using an engaging curriculum, certified dogs, and dedicated volunteers. Alternatively, SitStayRead, publishes their own line of inclusive books for early readers and all proceeds from the sale of these books goes directly back to supporting SitStayRead and literacy education.

To make a donation: https://www.sitstayread.org/donate

To purchase a book from SitStayRead: https://www.sitstayread.org/published-books

The community service project will be a clean-up of Montrose Beach done through the Alliance for Great Lakes organization. We will meet at 9 AM at Montrose Beach on September 23. Please use this link to register to volunteer if you are interested: https://adopt.greatlakes.org/s/cleanupregistration?c__recId=a2o8X000003eZLRQA2

Meeting Sponsor: Trellis and TRG Screen

Door Prizes: Gift cards will be raffled during the meeting courtesy of LexisNexis.

CALL No Show and No Walk in Policies for Business Meetings

Registration will close at 12:00 Noon on Friday September 15, 2023.

Note: You will have to log into Neon to register for the meeting. Enter “Not sure if you have an account or you forgot your login information?” to recover your account and reset your password. If you do not receive a password recovery email, please check your spam filter.

Permanent link to this article: https://chicagolawlib.org/blog/2023/08/16/september-2023-business-meeting/