Niles Public Library first in state to win Sunshine Award

Over the four-year history of the Local Transparency Project, there have been 35 municipalities, 12 school districts, seven counties, four park districts, two townships and even one fire protection district to earn the Illinois Policy Institute’s Sunshine Award. But until recently, no library has won the award. The April 16 Niles Public Library board meeting...

Over the four-year history of the Local Transparency Project, there have been 35 municipalities, 12 school districts, seven counties, four park districts, two townships and even one fire protection district to earn the Illinois Policy Institute’s Sunshine Award. But until recently, no library has won the award.

The April 16 Niles Public Library board meeting marked the first time a public library has won a Sunshine Award in Illinois.

To earn a Sunshine Award, a local government must score 80 percent or higher on the Local Transparency Project’s 10-Point Transparency Checklist.

It’s somewhat ironic that it took this long for a library to earn the award, considering the primary mission of a public library is to provide information to the public. Hopefully, Niles Library’s recent achievement sets an example for other libraries to follow.

Board President Morgan Dubiel talked to the Niles Herald-Spectator about the importance of transparency for public libraries.

According to Dubiel, “Libraries are all about access to information. That includes our information. We represent the people of the District and we’re leading the way on transparency. It’s their money. They have an absolute right to look over our shoulder and see how we spend it.”

Dubiel is right. Taxpayers do have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent. And with Niles Library now posting online such public documents as audits, budgets and expenditures, it sets an example for the other 330 library districts across the state.

Online transparency is an important tool for local governments to proactively fight corruption and to engage the public in being educated participants in the democratic process.

If you would like your local taxing body to earn a Sunshine Award, please contact Brian Costin at bcostin@illinoispolicy.org or by calling 312-346-5700, ext. 218.