EPL Awarded for Transparency

Submitted by the City of Evanston

The Evanston Public Library received the Illinois Policy Institute’s Sunshine Award during its monthly board meeting on Wednesday. The award was presented by Mindy Ruckman, a policy analyst for the organization which conducts audits of Illinois’ nearly 7,000 local taxing bodies in order to make Illinois government more transparent.

The Library received this award for providing citizens online access to key information about the library’s work.

Library Board President Michael Tannen added, “Only two of more than 300 Illinois public libraries were bestowed with this honor,” said Library Board President Michael Tannen.

The Illinois Policy Institute has developed a 10-Point Transparency Checklist to provide a best practices framework for legislators and citizens to use in order to improve local government transparency. Scoring 90.4% percent on the Institute’s checklist, the Evanston Public Library posts online workers’ compensation, contracts, meeting documents, board meeting packets, budgets, expenditures, taxes, contact information for key administrators, and other important information.

“We do not develop our budget or determine our levy in a smoky backroom,” Tannen added. “We conduct our deliberations in public meetings. Every one of our committees, by design, has more than two board members so that we are governed by the Open Meetings Act. It’s easy to be transparent when our fabulous staff is delivering a phenomenal and diverse array of programs and services to all of our citizens.”

“I congratulate the Evanston Public Library’s staff and Board of Trustees on this honor,” said Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl. “The staff and Trustees of the Evanston Public Library consistently demonstrate their commitment to informing and engaging our residents. With the receipt of this award from the Illinois Policy Institute, a respected and independent organization has recognized the Evanston Public Library’s openness and accountability to our residents and taxpayers.”