New library board has work cut out for it
Richard Hanners Whitefish Pilot | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 10 months AGO
The five members of the new Whitefish
Community Library board of trustees met for their second time Jan.
19 in the city council chambers as they prepared for the city’s
transition to an independent library.
Mayor Mike Jenson announced his
appointments to the board on Dec. 6, and the board elected officers
on Jan. 13. Board members are Mike Collins, chairman; Anne Shaw
Moran, vice chairman; Alison Pomerantz, secretary; Mary Vail,
treasurer; and Ray Boksich.
The board is unlike most of the city’s
volunteer boards and committees in that it can buy and sell
property. For that reason, the board has a treasurer and members
are considered trustees.
The board is also looking at a July 1
deadline, when the city officially will take over the library from
the county. The board intends to meet weekly if necessary to get
needed work done before that date.
As first steps, board members worked on
new bylaws and policies and drafting a job description for the new
library director. A salary for the position has not been set, but
money has been set aside in a budget created by the ad hoc library
committee that preceded the library board. The board agreed that
the director will not need a four-year library degree.
They also need to brainstorm ideas
about promoting the library to the community and to identify all
transitional activities, such as applying to join the Montana
Shared Catalogue system and choosing a representative to the
Montana State Library system. Whitefish belongs to the Tamarack
region, which includes northwest Montana counties.
An important date is Feb. 3. That’s
when the city will meet with the county and begin negotiations on
how to divide the branch library’s resources — books, furniture,
computers and other equipment.
The library board has an important
resource backing them up — the Whitefish Library Association, a
group of local residents who have pledged $75,000 over five years
to help the community library get started. Members of the
association will meet with the board on Feb. 2 — the day before the
potentially difficult negotiations begin with the county.
ARTICLES BY RICHARD HANNERS WHITEFISH PILOT
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