Are Public Records available to the Public in Illinois?

This is from some research I did on Obama and his "associates" - hope it helps:

Obama and Ayers served together on the board of The Woods Fund for three years. The funds Obama and Ayers helped control funneled thousands of dollars into the now-infamous Trinity United Church of Christ (Rev. Wright’s church) and an organization headed by prominent Israel basher and Arafat apologist Rashid Khalidi. And there were the panel discussions in which Ayers and Obama both took part—that were organized by … (wait for it) … Michelle Obama.
Ayers describes himself as a co-founder of the 1995-2000 Chicago School Reform Collaborative project, a.k.a. the Annenberg Challenge. Obama was its first chairman of the board. In addition to serving as the Annenberg Challenge's first chairman, Obama served on the "Leadership Council" of the Chicago Public Schools Education Fund, the Challenge's successor organization. Obama served on this council alongside Ayers's father, Thomas, and his brother, John, in 2001 and 2002, according to the Fund's annual reports. Obama and John Ayers also served on the council in 2003 and 2004, according to the Fund's annual reports.
Obama and Ayers also appeared on academic panels together. One panel dealt with juvenile justice issues, and at that time Obama said Ayers's book on the topic was "a searing and timely account." Both also worked to reform Chicago's education system. (New York Times, May 11, 2008)
It is hard to believe that the two passionate left-wing activists who both live in the ultra-leftist environment of Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood exchanged no ideas about political goals and tactics in all their interactions together. After all, they have so much in common and so much to discuss. Ayers could easily have served as a Marxist mentor to Obama.

The One is a Marxist so Ayers would only be a fellow traveler. lol Saul Alinsky is not known to be a raging capitalist roader.