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ILLINOIS STATE LIBRARY


Annual Library Certification Timeline

January 2 through March 31
All current library system members must certify annually through the Illinois State Library's certification web portal. Certification must be completed by each library's 'main' agency's administrative branch, using the ELI/L2 control number/branch number that is appropriate for that main agency. Main agency branch numbers end in '00' for academic**, public, and special libraries. Public school main agency branch numbers end in '99'; private school main agency branch numbers end in '00'.

**Some academic institutions have multiple administrative branch numbers with an ending of '00' and all branches with this ending number must certify individually.

April 1 through June 30
Those libraries that certify during the January 2 through March 31 time period will have their certification reviewed by their respective library System Board of Directors. Those libraries that certified but do not meet membership criteria and those libraries that do not certify will be recommended for suspension. The review and resulting actions taken by System Boards, which will occur in April, will then be approved by the Illinois State Library as the final step in this process.

Beginning July 1
Only approved certified libraries will be recognized as library system members and eligible for Illinois State Library grants, system membership, and system services. Certified libraries will also need to update, as necessary, their indicative contact information when applying for a specific Illinois State Library funded grant program (per capita grants, Live & Learn Construction Grants, and others).

Throughout the year
New libraries or suspended libraries that wish to rejoin the regional library system and can meet membership criteria will be approved as new system members throughout the year. The member application process includes:

Additional information on the library system membership application process: