The following is a summary of RAILS, which can be found on the RAILS website

What is RAILS?

RAILS stands for Reaching Across Illinois Library System. RAILS serves more than 1,500 academic, public, school and special libraries in northern and western Illinois.

RAILS was formed by the merger of these five library systems on July 1, 2011:

• Alliance Library System (ALS)
• DuPage Library System (DLS)
• Metropolitan Library System (MLS)
• North Suburban Library System (NSLS)
• Prairie Area Library System (PALS)

RAILS offers a number of services to our members, such as delivery service, LLSAPs (Local Library System Automation Programs,

which are shared online catalogs operated in partnership with RAILS), Talking Book Services, and a variety of communication tools

to inform members about system services and to make it easier for members to share information with each other.

More information can be found on the RAILS website at www.railslibraries.info.

How many library systems are there in Illinois? In addition to RAILS, there is one other multitype library system in Illinois,

the Illinois Heartland Library System (IHLS).

IHLS serves 585 academic, public, school, and special libraries in southern and central Illinois.

There is also the Chicago Public Library System, which is a public library system serving the city of Chicago, Illinois.