If you have any questions about these policies, please contact us. We welcome any and all inquiries!

Local Lending

• Standard loan period is 4 weeks.
• Extensions are considered upon request.
• Requested materials can be picked up in person at IFSI.
• Photo ID is required to establish a lending account.
• Lending is limited to Illinois residents.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

• Standard loan period is 6 weeks.
• IFSI Library materials can be delivered to a patron’s Illinois local library through ILL service.
• A public library card is required.
• ILL delivery to your public library may take up to 2 weeks.

This guide was produced by the Illinois Fire Service Institute Library to provide information on women in the fire service. As of 2017, women represented 7% of firefighters in the United States (NFPA). Included here are links to books, articles, research papers, videos, and online resources intended to highlight this minority population in the field.

The video above features the experiences of participants in the Women-in-Fire Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (WTREX), a wildland fire training program for female firefighters. Many speak of the challenges of being the only female firefighter on their crew.

The IFSI Library houses more than 65,000 items, including books, periodicals, manuals, codes and standards, DVDs, CDs, e-resources, audiobooks and other fire emergency resources. The library exists to serve all first responders in the state of Illinois. Users can request materials in-person, via telephone or email, or through the Online Catalog. The catalog may be searched by keyword, title, author, subject, or publisher, and the search can be limited to specific formats. You may enter as many or as few search terms as you would like; the more search parameters the fewer results there will be, but those results will be more specific. You can visit us in person, or, if you live in the state of Illinois and have an Illinois library card, we can send the materials you want to your local library via interlibrary loan.

For Information, Assistance, or User Training Contact:

Phone: 217-333-8925 or Toll Free: 800-437-5819

Fax: 217-333-8379 (Library) or 217-244-6792 (IFSI)

Email: fsi-library@illinois.edu

Library Hours

Monday – Friday:

8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Head Librarian

Lian Ruan: lruan@illinois.edu

Reference & User Training Librarian

Diane Richardson: dlrichar@illinois.edu

Assistant Director for Library Operations

David Ehrenhart: ehrenha1@illinois.edu