SPRINGFIELD — The Illinois State Library has unveiled a new service that allows patrons to obtain reference information from them via text messaging.

Last week, Secretary of State Jesse While officially announced that the “Text a Librarian” service was being implemented.
“As the official library of the state government, the Illinois State Library offers references and information services via e-mail, in-person, and by telephone or fax,” said White. “This new texting service provides another means by which we can fulfill the important information needs of our patrons. I encourage cell phone users to take advantage of this convenient new service.”
State Senator Kirk Dillard (R-Westmont) also introduced the new service last week.
“It’s great to see the State of Illinois making a concerted effort to embrace technology, like text messaging, and use it in innovative ways that supplement the more conventional methods of communication,” said Dillard in a press release.
Through the service, a patron can send a brief question to a reference librarian at the Illinois State Library. A reference librarian will then send the patron a text message with a brief response to their question.
“Social media is all over the place and we just wanted to offer our patrons another means by which we could get in touch with our reference people,” said Illinois State Library Spokesman Pat McGuckin.
To use the service, patrons must send a text to (217) 953-0575. The body of the text must start with the keyword ASKISL, followed by a space, followed by the question.
The Illinois State Library won’t charge for the service, but the message and data rates that some cell phone service carriers charge still apply.
The Text a Librarian service is intended for simple, quick reference questions that are up to 160 characters in length and can be answered in brief responses.
“We’re asking for people to keep their questions kind of short because that’s the easiest way for us to do this,” said McGuckin. “If they’ve got a lengthy question or need a detailed response or something, they can continue to send us an e-mail or telephone us.”
Patrons can expect the “highly-trained” reference librarians at the Illinois State Library to answer their reference questions quickly, said McGuckin.
“If it’s something we can answer quickly, we will,” said McGuckin. “At times we have to do some research, but our librarians are the best research people available. We’re all proud of our reference librarians here. This service will help them find whatever it is that our patrons are looking for.”
Reference librarians at the Illinois State Library answer approximately 8,000 questions a year.
“Most of our reference questions come from people in the state government,” said McGuckin. “Because we are the official library of the state government, we’ll get phone calls from various state agencies asking us certain information. We do get information from the public however, because our materials are open to the public.”
The Illinois State Library already offers reference and information services online, in-person and by telephone or fax. The email inquiry form is located on the Secretary of State website www.cyberdrive.com. The State Library Information Line is (217) 782-7596 and fax requests may be sent to (217) 524-0041.
The Text a Librarian service and State Library Information Line are available Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.