School Libraries | 2026-27 SLATE Illinois School Library Census Opens

Submitted by Elizabeth Smith on

For school libraries: RAILS has announced that the 2026-2027 SLATE Census is now open. The deadline to submit your census form is February 28, 2027. The data that’s collected for the census is used in the Illinois School Library Data Dashboard, which provides a wealth of information about the state of school libraries in Illinois. You can view your district’s data and download it as a single-page PDF to share with administrators.

The census does ask several collection-specific questions, such as the number of materials your library owns and the average age of publication date for your collection. To get those statistics, just log a help desk ticket and PrairieCat can supply you with that data.

If you need additional assistance with the census,  RAILS Data Analyst Janette Derucki will be offering office hours throughout the coming months. You can also email her directly with any questions you have at janette.derucki@railslibraries.org.