Illinois Digital Library Program Expands Free Access to Research Databases

“Illinois has long recognized that libraries’ reliance on local property taxes creates significant disparities in funding and access to resources.”

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias

As states look for ways to close information gaps beyond the classroom, Illinois is launching a new digital library program that treats access to reliable research as a statewide public service.

The Illinois Reliable Information Sources program, or IRIS, gives residents free access to more than 50 EBSCO databases through local libraries and the Illinois State Library website, including e-books, peer-reviewed journals, newspapers, magazines, and research tools covering business, education, health, technology, science, and other fields.

The program responds to a longstanding divide in library access. Some Illinois libraries can afford broad digital collections, while others operate without any online database subscriptions. Because local property taxes remain a major source of library funding, the quality of research materials available to residents often depends on their community’s wealth and their local library’s budget.

IRIS moves the cost of those resources away from individual systems and creates a shared collection available across the state. Students can use it for coursework and college preparation. Job seekers can research careers and professional certifications. Small business owners, adult learners, educators, and independent researchers can reach materials that may previously have sat behind a subscription or outside the holdings of their nearest library. The program also extends access to residents who live outside a public library service area.

To better understand this broader reach, making IRIS more than a new set of databases, we spoke with Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias about how it gives Illinois a way to treat credible information as part of the state’s civic infrastructure, alongside other public resources intended to support education, employment, and participation in daily life.

Alexi Giannoulias has served as Illinois Secretary of State since 2023, overseeing the nation’s largest Secretary of State’s office, with nearly 4,000 employees across 25 departments. His responsibilities include driver and vehicle services, business registrations, securities regulation, state archives and the Illinois State Library. Since taking office, he has focused on modernizing aging technology, expanding online services, reducing DMV wait times and improving access through appointment systems, mobile units and pop-up facilities.

Giannoulias entered statewide office in 2007, becoming the nation’s youngest state treasurer at age 30. After leaving the post in 2011, he chaired the Illinois Community College Board, worked as a senior director at BNY Mellon Wealth Management and taught as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University. He also founded the investment firm Annoula Ventures and served on several nonprofit boards, including the Chicago Public Library. Giannoulias earned an economics degree from Boston University and a law degree from Tulane University before playing professional basketball in Greece.

Turning reliable research into a statewide public resource requires Illinois to address the funding structure that has long shaped what individual libraries can offer. Most public libraries rely heavily on local property taxes, which means the size and wealth of a community can determine whether its library can afford digital subscriptions alongside staffing, technology, programming and building costs.

First and foremost, Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias says the initiative is designed to reduce the funding disparities that have shaped access to digital research across the state.

“Illinois has long recognized that libraries’ reliance on local property taxes creates significant disparities in funding and access to resources. As a result, many libraries cannot afford the same digital research tools as larger, better-funded systems. In 2023, 51 percent of Illinois public libraries reported having no online database subscriptions, despite growing demand for digital information and research resources. IRIS helps close that gap by ensuring every Illinois resident has access to high-quality online resources, regardless of where they live,” Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias says.

That 51 percent figure shows how widely access varies across the state. In communities without database subscriptions, residents may still be able to search the open internet, but many peer-reviewed journals, newspaper archives, reference collections and specialized learning tools remain behind paywalls or institutional accounts. The difference is not simply the number of resources a library carries. It affects the quality and depth of information available to students, workers, and residents making decisions without access to university or workplace databases.

IRIS changes the way those materials are purchased. Rather than expecting each library to assemble and maintain its own collection, the state provides a common set of tools that local systems can offer without absorbing the subscription cost. The program does not eliminate differences in staffing, facilities, or technology, but it establishes a more consistent foundation for research across communities.

That foundation is designed for far more than academic work. The same databases can support a student preparing for college, an adult pursuing a credential, or a resident trying to solve a practical problem at home.

By giving libraries across Illinois access to the same core collection, IRIS extends the value of statewide purchasing beyond academic research. Its databases support classroom assignments, but they also help residents prepare for exams, explore careers, develop practical skills, and find reliable guidance for everyday tasks.

“IRIS provides free access to research and learning tools that many residents previously could not access through their local library. Students and adult learners can strengthen academic skills, prepare for high school equivalency exams and college, explore careers, study for professional certifications and prepare for the U.S. citizenship test. The collection also includes practical resources covering topics such as auto repair, home improvement, hobbies, crafts and small engine repair,” Giannoulias says.

For students, the program provides access to peer-reviewed sources and reference materials that may not be available through their school or local library. Adult learners can prepare for a high school equivalency exam, return to education after years away from the classroom, or study for credentials tied to a new profession. Job seekers can research occupations and better understand the qualifications required to enter a different field.

Other resources address needs that rarely fit a traditional definition of research. Someone repairing a vehicle, maintaining a home, or learning a technical skill can consult specialized materials without purchasing a manual or paying for a commercial subscription. Small business owners and independent researchers can also use the collection to find business, industry, and technology information in one place.

The range of uses reflects how often education, work and daily life overlap. A resident may move from studying for an exam to researching a career, or from developing a business idea to learning how to complete a practical repair. IRIS gives people a common starting point even when they do not have access to a university library, workplace database or private subscription.

For local libraries, the benefit appears on the balance sheet. Removing a recurring subscription expense gives smaller systems more room to invest in staff, public programs, computers and other services that shape how residents experience the library.

IRIS affects local budgets in two distinct ways. Libraries that already purchase comparable databases may reduce overlapping subscription costs, while systems that previously went without them gain a new service without adding another recurring expense. The program therefore does more than distribute research materials. It changes which costs individual communities must carry on their own.

The amount each library can redirect will depend on its existing subscriptions, and IRIS is unlikely to transform local finances on its own. Yet even modest flexibility can matter in systems where annual budgets leave little room between maintaining current services and postponing another need. A database contract renewed each year can compete with staff hours, replacement computers, building maintenance or programs designed for a specific community.

“Libraries that previously paid for these resources can redirect local tax dollars to other operational needs, including staffing, programming and technology. Libraries that could not afford these databases can now offer patrons access to the same high-quality resources at no cost to their local budgets,” Giannoulias explains.

Statewide purchasing also changes the role of local spending. Instead of using limited funds to replicate a basic digital collection already available in wealthier districts, libraries can invest in the people and equipment that help residents use it. A librarian may guide an adult learner toward exam preparation, help a job seeker identify certification materials, or show a small business owner how to navigate industry research. Computers, internet access and community workshops determine whether a database becomes part of everyday library service or remains an unfamiliar link on a website.

The program does not erase differences among library systems. Some will still have larger staffs, newer technology and stronger relationships with schools or community organizations. What IRIS creates is a shared informational baseline: the underlying collection no longer rises and falls entirely with local revenue.

Whether residents benefit from that shift will become visible in the program’s usage patterns. The most meaningful results will not come from the size of the collection, but from whether activity grows in the communities that previously had the fewest digital resources.

A statewide collection can narrow the information gap only if residents in previously underserved communities actually use it. That makes adoption, not the number of databases alone, the more important measure of IRIS.

The Illinois State Library is tracking activity across public, school and academic libraries, along with visits to the IRIS portal. Those figures can show whether the program is reaching different parts of the state, but total traffic will tell only part of the story. A surge from institutions that already offered strong digital services would not carry the same significance as steady use in communities that previously had none.

“The Illinois State Library monitors monthly usage data across public, school, and academic libraries, as well as traffic through the IRIS portal. Those metrics will help measure how widely the resources are being used across Illinois and whether they are expanding access in communities that previously had limited or no access to these types of research tools,” Giannoulias shares.

The clearest signs of progress will come from where that growth appears. School libraries may reveal whether students are incorporating the databases into coursework. Public library use can show whether job seekers, adult learners, and other residents are finding the platform. Direct traffic through the state portal may also indicate whether people outside a local library service area are reaching the collection on their own.

Usage data cannot fully explain what residents accomplish once they arrive. It will not show whether someone passes a certification exam, finds a better job, or turns research into a viable business decision. Still, it provides an early test of whether the state is reaching the communities IRIS is intended to serve.

Illinois has already changed the terms of access by moving the cost of a core digital collection beyond individual library budgets. The next question is whether that access becomes routine enough to shape how residents learn, work, and solve problems across the state.