Fox River Grove's Michael Campbell Named Chair/President of RAILS
BURR RIDGE, Ill., Aug. 4, 2020 - The Reaching Across Illinois Libraries System (RAILS) announced the election of its new Executive Committee for the Board of Directors, including Fox River Grove's Michael Campbell as Chair and President. The new Executive Committee was seated on July 24 at the monthly RAILS meeting held in accordance with the Governmental Emergency Administrative Act via virtual meeting.
Campbell is President and CEO of Advancing Global EDU, Inc., a marketing and sales consulting agency focused on education, based in Fox River Grove. He also is a Board of Trustee member for the Fox River Grove Memorial Library in Fox River Grove. Campbell has worked with small to mid-sized firms in the educational service and technology sector since 2012, and in 2014 was appointed to a seat on the Fox River Grove Memorial Library Board, and then elected to the position in April of 2015.
Campbell is dedicated to youth and education initiatives both within Illinois and on the national level. He is a member of several company advisory boards, including EdWeb.net and SparkPath, and has served on professional associations such as the Education Technology Industry Network (a SIIA Association), and the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, where he serves on the Executive Committee.
"It has been a pleasure to work with Michael, since he previously served as our Advocacy Chair," said Deirdre Brennan, Executive Director of RAILS. "With more than 1,200 libraries in our system and 4,200 branches across northern and west-central Illinois, our goal is to greatly increase resource sharing between libraries serving communities, schools, colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and companies."
"We want to ensure that everyone in Illinois has the information they need and knows what libraries of all types have to offer," Brennan continued. "Our board provides guidance as we provide much needed services to communities large and small, students, and businesses who have invested in research libraries. Michael brings his experience and passion for both public libraries and school and university libraries to our board. His voice will be appreciated during his tenure as President of the Board."
RAILS is governed by a board, elected from member libraries within the RAILS geographic area. Current RAILS Board of Directors Executive Committee members including Campbell are: Vice President, Thomas Stagg, Trustee, Alpha Park Public Library; Secretary, Sarah McHone-Chase, Dept. Head, Northern Illinois Univ Libraries; Treasurer, Dianne Hollister, Librarian, Bradley University.
"I look forward to working with the Board and the libraries within the system," Campbell said. "RAILS and the many libraries in our system have done admirable work during the pandemic and I look forward to continuing to support that mission for libraries in the state of Illinois."
RAILS board members must be a trustee of a member library or part of the library staff from a member library. For the full list of the RAILS Board of Directors, visit www.railslibraries.info/board/board-members.
ABOUT RAILS | www.railslibraries.info
Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) provides delivery service to support Illinois' vast interlibrary loan program and technology support for more than 600 libraries' shared online catalogs. Our services include continuing education and consulting resources to library employees and trustees, as well as e-book services, group purchases, and vendor discounts. RAILS serves approximately 1200 private, public, school, and university library members, which have a total of more than 4200 library facilities in a 27,000 square mile area. RAILS is governed by a Board of Directors, elected by member libraries. The RAILS Library system was established by state law (75 ILCS 10/, the Illinois Library System Act). Funding for Illinois Library Systems is provided through the Illinois State Library and the Secretary of State, with funds appropriated by the Illinois General Assembly. RAILS was formed in 2011, from a merger of the Alliance, DuPage, Metropolitan, North Suburban, and Prairie Area library systems.