Date: April 2, 2008
Contact: Lindsay Gladstone
Governors State University
Phone: (708) 534-7090
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: l-gladstone@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, IL, April 2, 2008 – On April 15, the staff of the Governors State University Library and libraries all around the State of Illinois will have their own day to celebrate. In a proclamation signed by Governor Rod Blagojevich and Secretary of State Jesse White, the State of Illinois proclaimed April 15, 2008 as National Library Workers Day in Illinois.
The proclamation recognizes and honors the dedicated and hardworking personnel who staff the many public, academic, school, governmental, and specialized libraries across the state. A copy of the proclamation is on display at the GSU library.
“The proclamation sites the important and invaluable services provided by library workers in helping people gain access to knowledge and information,” said Lydia Morrow Ruetten of New Lenox, professor and head of the Serials and Acquisitions Departments in the Governors State University Library. “It is great to have the hard work of our staff and the staffs of other libraries recognized.”
According to Morrow Ruetten, “Library workers provide an important service to the community at the university level, in village libraries, and in the local schools,” said Morrow Ruetten. “We open doors to information. Our work is much more complicated than just shelving books. We help people navigate the many different resources that are available to help them get the information they seek.”
With access to a wider range of sources, finding the information has become both easier and more complicated. According to Morrow Ruetten, it is often easier because so much information is now available, but accessing that information is often more complicated. “We frequently help people with their information searches because there are so many varied resources. It can be very confusing.”
The Governors State University Library, for example, currently has more than 430,000 volumes, series back files, and documents, as well as over a million volumes on microforms and more than 26,000 volumes of audiovisual materials. The library also maintains 1,900 current serial subscriptions, 75 journal indices, full-text databases, web-sources, and technology services.
“In additions to all that, we are also a national depository of state and federal documents and are linked to libraries around the state,” added Morrow Ruetten. “Libraries are a wonderful community resource.”
For more information about National Library Workers Day or the GSU Library, call (708) 534-4116.
