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Committee Selects Next Library Board President

The James Prendergast Library Association Board of Trustees will have a new president in 2018.

On Thursday, R. Thomas Rankin, board president, said the nomination committee has recommended appointing Joni Blackman to be the new president of the board, starting next year. Other board officers will include Lynn Warner as vice president, Kris Denslow as treasurer and Michelle McCray as secretary. The board will vote during their Thursday, Dec. 21, meeting to appoint officers for next year.

Because of library board bylaws, Rankin can no longer serve on the board at the end of the year. He said someone can serve three terms, with each term being three years, for a total of nine years. He added that a board member can return to the board after one year.

Blackman said that at the start of next year the board will have two vacancies because Todd Thomas has also resigned from the board. Rankin said Thomas resigned because of a busy personal schedule.

In other board business, library officials will continue to look for a local foundation to assist them in funding a window replacement project. Library officials received a $125,000 grant from the state and need a local match of 25 percent for the project. Tina Scott, library executive director, said they applied for the local match first with the Hultquist Foundation, but were denied the funding.

The Hultquist Foundation did fund the library $77,000 for their Phase 2 construction project to add Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant upstairs bathrooms and converting a freight elevator into a passenger elevator. In 2015, library officials received a $243,000 grant from the state Department of Education through its Public Library Construction program for the project. The second phase of library renovations were completed in October 2016.

Scott said library officials will continue to ask local foundations for funding for the local match for the window project. In July 2016, library officials applied for the grant to replace the windows in the main reading room.

At the beginning of 2015, construction was finished on the first phase of library renovations. Phase 1 improvements included constructing Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant restrooms for men and women on the first floor; adding a family restroom in the children’s room; turning a second-floor storage space into a community room; and creating a new teen space. The library received a $294,000 state grant and a $70,000 matching grant from city officials for the first phase renovations.

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