The library at Alton, IL has a website
http://www.haynerlibrary.org/genealogy.htm which mentions their "Illinois Room" where they have a lot of genealogy information, guest speakers, etc. They say they will do lookups for a small fee, and have the local paper on microfilm back to 1836. The fees paid for lookups will be used to purchase more genealogy materials, so that doesn't sound like a bad deal, if this area is where you need to do research. Ruth