The University of Illinois Springfield is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The university was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1969 as Sangamon State University with a focus on post-graduate education. It became the third member of the University of Illinois system on July 1, 1995. The university now also includes a liberal arts colleg…The University of Illinois Springfield is a public university in Springfield, Illinois. The university was established by the Illinois General Assembly in 1969 as Sangamon State University with a focus on post-graduate education. It became the third member of the University of Illinois system on July 1, 1995. The university now also includes a liberal arts college and is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. UIS is also a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and the American Council on Education. The campus' main repository, Brookens Library, holds a collection of nearly 800,000 books and serials in addition to accessible resources at the University of Illinois Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campuses.