The Poplar Creek Public Library District (PCPLD) complies with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (5 ILCS 140/2). View the FOIA Guide (Posted in compliance with 5 ILCS 140/4) on the PCPLD website at https://pclib.org/sitemedia/documents/FOIA/foia-guide.pdf.
FOIA Officer
The FOIA Officer for the Poplar Creek Public Library District is Jose Maldonado, Executive Director and the email address is foia@pclib.org. For persons requiring access to records for physical inspection or copying please contact the FOIA Officer or the Executive Director during normal business hours: Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
About the Poplar Creek Public Library District (PCPLD)
The Poplar Creek Public Library District is a district library established under the Illinois Local Library Act, 75 ILCS 5. The Poplar Creek Public Library District (PCPLD) serves a community of 65,645 residents of Cook and DuPage Counties, primarily in Streamwood and Hanover Park, IL, along with parts of neighboring towns within the PCPLD boundaries. PCPLD is part of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) system.
PCPLD consists of the following:
- Main Library, located at 1405 S. Park Ave. Streamwood, IL 60107.
- Sonya Crawshaw Branch Library, located at 4300 Audrey Lane, Hanover Park, IL 60133.
- Mobile library (bookmobile), located at 1405 S. Park Ave. Streamwood, IL 60107.
Library Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees meets at 7:00 pm on the third Thursday of each month. Meetings are held in the Board Room located on the second floor. The public is welcome to attend. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. The Library Board of Trustees is a seven-member board, elected to 2, 4, or 6-year terms. Information regarding PCPLD policies, PCPLD Board of Trustee members & photos, meetings, etc. may be accessed on the PCPLD website at https://www.pclib.org.
The PCPLD Board of Trustees exercises control over policies and procedures. The PCPLD Board of Trustees also appoints its members to committees. Current operating committees, including names of Trustees serving on each, may be obtained by contacting the Executive Director.
Funding Sources
Funding sources are monies appropriated through Cook County and DuPage County property taxes, state personal property replacement taxes, state and federal grants, fines and fees for services, and donations. The current operating budget can be found on the PCPLD website at https://pclib.org/financials.
Taxes are levied for:
- Corporate purposes
- Bond & Interest
- Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund
- FICA (Social Security)
- Audit
- Building and Sites
- Torts (public liability insurance)
- Workers’ Compensation
- Unemployment
PCPLD is required to report and be answerable for operations to the Illinois State Library, Springfield, IL. Its members are State Librarian Alexi Giannoulias, the Director of the State Library, and various other staff. An organizational chart can be found on the PCPLD website at https://pclib.org/sitemedia/documents/FOIA/organizational-chart.pdf.
FOIA Requests
Please submit FOIA requests for information and the records available to the public in the following manner:
- Request information from the Administrative Office, Poplar Creek Public Library District, 1405 S. Park Avenue, Streamwood, IL 60107-2997 (630-837-6800), (weekdays 9 a.m. through 5 p.m., excluding holidays, or mail to the same address to the attention of FOIA Officer.
- Alternately, fax requests to the attention of the FOIA officer (630-837-6823) or email foia@pclib.org. Identify any request as being made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA Request Form can be found on the PCPLD website at https://pclib.org/sitemedia/documents/FOIA/foia-request-form.pdf.
- Commercial purpose * requests must be identified within the request.
- Specify whether the records requested are to be disclosed for inspection or to be copied. Certification by a notary may be requested for specific documents.
- The following fees may apply:
- $1.00 for certification per document
- The first fifty (50) pages of black-and-white text, either letter or legal size are free.
- $.15 per page charge for copied records in excess of 50 pages.
- $1.00 charge per page for color copies and other sized copies.
- Digital records may be requested in a specific format and, if feasible, provided. If not feasible, they will be provided in the electronic format in which they are stored. A fee will be charged for a USB drive or other format as requested.
- Records may be inspected or copied. If inspected, an employee must be present throughout the inspection. Records for inspection only are available by appointment Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. 5 p.m., in the Business Office.
The FOIA Officer(s) will respond to a request within five (5) working days of receipt of the request. An extension of an additional five (5) working days may be necessary to properly respond. A public body shall respond to a request for records to be used for a commercial purpose* within 21 days.
PCPLDs response will be either the information requested or a notice for an extension under the Freedom of Information Act, or a denial of the request in writing. Denial of the request will occur if the public records requested fall within one of the specific exemptions of the Act. If only part of the request is denied, and access given to the remainder, such will be stated in the response. Any denial will include the reason or exemption. The person making the request will also be notified of the right to appeal the denial.
Denial of access by the FOIA Officer(s) may be appealed to the Public Access Counselor (PAC) in the Illinois Attorney General s office within 60 days Upon receipt of an appeal, the PAC will review the public record, determine whether the record is open to public inspection, and respond in writing to the appeal within seven (7) business days. The Public Access Counselor may be contacted at the Public Access Bureau, 500 S. 2 nd Street, Springfield, IL 62706; (217) 558-0486; public.access@ilag.gov
The entire Freedom of Information Act is available on the Illinois General Assembly website at https://www.ilga.gov under Illinois Compiled Statues, Chapter 5 (General Provisions), ILCS 140 (5 ILCS 140).
Commercial purpose is defined in the Act as the use of any part or a public record or records or information derived from public records, in any form for sale resale or solicitation or advertisement for sales or services However there are exceptions for news media, non-profits, scientific and academic organizations for disseminate news, articles, or opinions of public interest, or research or education.
*In the event a commercial purpose is involved, additional questions can be asked of the requestor by the public body FOIA officer(s) in order to determine the classification, then the public body has up to twenty-one (21) days to respond and either deny the request based on exemptions or undue burden; or estimate the time and cost of the copying for prepayment; or provide the documents requested.