RSA Independence Project

This page will be updated with new documents or information when available.
Last updated: 03 September 2024

Total Count of IGA’s Returned as of the date listed above: 135
IGA’s Returned from Publics: 96, Schools: 34, Academics: 3, Specials: 2

Click to see the list of members who have returned signed IGA’s.

Members who withdrew from RSA on 1 July 2024: 7 school members with 13 library branches

• Canton CUSD #66 – High School
• Farmington Central CUSD #265 – High School
• Heyworth CUSD #4 – High School, Elementary School
• Olympia CUSD #16 – High School, Middle School, North Elementary, South Elementary, West Elementary
• Pleasant Plains CUSD #8 – High School, Middle School
• St. Mark Catholic School – confirmed withdrawl in late August
• West Central SD #235 – HS/ES Library

Why is RSA Pursuing Full Independence from RAILS?

RSA was fully integrated into the Alliance Library System in the early 2000’s. At the time of the system merger in 2011, RSA was still fully staffed by Alliance staff members. Just prior to the library system merger, the last Alliance Board approved the spin-off of RSA into a Not For Profit organization to protect the automation consortium’s assets and operations. The staff supporting RSA operations transitioned into the RAILS organization in July 2011. At that time, RAILS employed the staff of four automation consortia. RSA is now the last remaining consortia staffed with RAILS employees.

On 1 October 2019, RAILS formally requested that the RSA Board of Directors should “…begin planning for the funding and employment of its own staff, following a model similar to the efforts undertaken by PrairieCat and SWAN to discontinue the use of RAILS for hiring, payroll, benefits administrations, and other employment-related services.” On 12 November 2020 RAILS updated the request in the LLSAP Support Grant award letter adding a timeline to complete the process between July 2024 to July 2026.

The RSA Board of Directors examined all possible methods of moving staff out of RAILS. Options explored included disbanding RSA entirely, merging with other consortia inside and outside of RAILS, partnering with other consortia for staffing services, contracting with RSA member libraries, and even moving existing RSA support staff into SirsiDynix Corp. as part of our overall contract with them. In the end, the Board selected the best option of converting our governance structure from a 501c3 Not for Profit to an Illinois Intergovernmental Instrumentality (III) to match how all other automation consortia in RAILS are organized. Having the same governance type as the other RAILS consortia will help position RSA for better staff retention and ongoing alignment with models and LLSAP funding and support from RAILS. After RSA has finished this process, we will still receive the LLSAP support grant as we do now. The difference is that the money will come directly to RSA rather than paying RAILS for staffing costs.

Overall Independence Project Milestones

The independence timeline is broken out into three key milestones based on RSA’s fiscal year start date of 1 July. Those milestone dates are:

• 1 July 2024 – RSA governance conversion from a 501c3 to a III – Most Important for Member Libraries! — COMPLETED
• 1 July 2025 – First day of RSA directly employing staff
• 1 July 2026 – All remaining RAILS provided IT and support services converted to RSA sourced and operated services

For more detail on these milestones, please review the Key Dates in RSA’s Independence Project document shared with members at the 9 Aug Users Group meeting.

Milestone 1: RSA Governance Conversion – Completion Date 1 July 2024

RSA NFP transitioned to an Illinois Intergovernmental Instrumentality as of 1 July 2024. The new RSA drops the NFP portion of the name and assums all assets and contracts of the former RSA NFP. The new name is Resource Sharing Alliance (RSA).

A letter focused primarily on this milestone was sent in letter form to each RSA member library on 26 September. You can review the letter here.

The tentative timeline for completion of this phase of the project is as follows:

Milestone 2: RSA Directly Employs RSA Support Staff – Completion Date 1 July 2025

RSA’s Board of Directors, working with outside parties, will design and procure all the staffing benefits, HR and payroll support, job descriptions, and more required to directly employ staff currently supporting RSA by 30 June 2025. Much of this work can’t be started until RSA has reorganized as an III organization.

Along with benefits and retirement programs, RSA also needs to procure HR and payroll support, additional administrative support, and more to replace everything currently provided by RAILS RSA hasn’t had to perform due to our partnership with RAILS.

Milestone 3: RSA ‘Fully Independent’ from RAILS – Completion Date 1 July 2026

RSA can’t transition off RAILS provided IT services until RSA staff are employed by RSA. Until that time, RSA staff are required to use RAILS provided services to ensure HR compliance and FOIA request coverage. During the mid-2025 to June 2026 timeframe, RSA will procure, set up, and maintain almost all the services currently provided by RAILS. Primarily, that involves anything IT or computer related. RSA will continue to contract with RAILS for Finance support and a small footprint in the RAILS East Peoria office.