Marquette Heights Public Library

The Illinois Freedom of Information Act
 

I.   A brief description of our public body is as follows:

A.  Our purpose is to provide materials and services for the recreational, social, informational, and educational needs of the community.

B.  An organizational chart is attached.

C.  The total amount of our operating budget for FY 2024/2025 is $72,072.  Funding sources are property and personal property replacement taxes, state and federal grants, fines, charges, and donations.

D.  The office is located at this address: 715 Lincoln Road, Marquette Heights, IL  61554.

E.  We have approximately the following number of persons employed:  1 full time; 1 part time.

F.  The following organization exercises control over our policies and procedures: The Marquette Heights Public Library Board of Library Trustees, which meets monthly on the third Monday of the month, (except on federal holidays, and no meeting in July or December), at 7:00 p.m. at the Marquette Heights Public Library located at 715 Lincoln Road, Marquette Heights, Illinois.  Its members are: Mark Valentine, President; Kathie Quisenberry, Vice President; Michelle Valentine, Secretary; Shelley Turner, Treasurer; Sandra Ascherl; Grace Augustine; Cheryl Langley; Vickie Rayburn; Cathi Sipes.

G.  We are required to report and be answerable for our operations to: the Illinois State Library, Springfield, Illinois. Its members are: State Librarian, Alexi Giannoulias (Secretary of State); Deputy Director of the State Library, Greg McCormick; and various other staff.


II.  You may request the information and the records available to the public in the following manner:

A.  Use request form (see attached).

B.  Your request should be directed to one of the following individuals: Jenny Jackson, FOIA officer or Mark Valentine, FOIA officer

C.  You must indicate whether you have a “commercial purpose”² in your request.³

D.  You must specify the records requested to be disclosed for inspection or to be copied. If you desire that any records be certified, you must specify which ones.

E.  To reimburse us our actual costs for reproducing and certifying (if requested) the records, you will be charged the following fees: 

There is a $1.00 charge for each certification of records;
There is no charge for the first fifty (50) pages of black and white text either letter or legal size;
There is a $0.15 per page charge for copied records in excess of 50 pages;
The actual copying cost of color copies and other sized copies will be charged.

F.  If the records are kept in electronic format, you may request a specific format and if feasible, they will be so provided; but if not, they will be provided either in the electronic format in which they are kept (and you would be required to pay the actual cost of the medium only, i.e. disc, diskette, tape, etc.) or in paper as you select.

G.  The office will respond to a written request within five (5) working days or sooner if possible. An extension of an additional five (5) working days may be necessary to properly respond.

H.  Records may be inspected or copied. If inspected, an employee must be present throughout the inspection.

I.  The place and times where the records will be available are as follows:

Marquette Heights Public Library, 715 Lincoln Road, Marquette Heights, IL  61554;
Tuesday and Thursday, 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m (12:00pm-6:00pm June-August).


III.  Certain types of information maintained by us are exempt from inspection and copying. However, the following types or categories of records are maintained under our control:

A.  Monthly Financial Statements.

B.  Annual Receipts and Disbursements Reports.

C.  Operating Budgets.

D.  Minutes of the Board of Library Trustees.

E.   Library Policies, including Materials Selection.

F.   Annual Reports to the Illinois State Library.
 

¹ P.A. 96-542 requires the FOIA designated officer(s), and there can be multiples, must be “trained” with the on-line training program to be developed by the Illinois Attorney General’s office and tested as well, within the first six months of the effective date which is January 1, 2010 (i.e. training and testing by July 1, 2010) AND annually thereafter, and within 30 days of any new appointment.