The Bellingham Public Library Board of Trustees selected J. Gordon to serve as Board Chair for 2015. Gordon, appointed in 2006, is serving his second term. He is a senior principal in the firm GeoEngineers and most recently served as chair of the Library Board’s Facilities Committee.
“I am proud to lead the board at this very pivotal time,” Gordon said. “Nationally and locally we are seeing some economic recovery. At the library, we are incrementally recovering some funding after deep cuts during the Great Recession. In accordance with our strategic plan, we are being more efficient while embracing new technologies, providing new services, formats and programming for our patrons. And in the year ahead, we will make key decisions about how our downtown location can be improved to support our services and the future needs of our wonderful city. It is an exciting time for our library!”
Rachel Myers was selected as Vice Chair for 2015. Myers, appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2010, is development and programs manager at Whatcom Community Foundation and most recently served on the Library Board’s Outreach Committee.
These actions were taken during the Board of Trustee’s December meeting, when the Trustees also said goodbye to Faye Hill, whose second term as Trustee expired at the end of December, 2014. Hill’s position remains vacant pending the appointment of a new Trustee, expected in the weeks ahead.
In addition, the Bellingham City Council selected Council member Jack Weiss to continue serving as the Council liaison to the Bellingham Public Library Board. This action was taken during the Council’s annual reorganization meeting on January 5, 2015. Weiss, who represents Bellingham’s 1st Ward, served as Council liaison to the Library Board in 2014 and was instrumental in securing funding for additional open hours at library branches beginning in 2015.
The five-member Board of Trustees is the governing body of the Bellingham Public Library. Trustees serve five-year terms. Regular Library Board meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month, with the first meeting of the year scheduled for 3:30 p.m. January 20, 2015 in the Board Room on the upper level of the Central Library, 210 Central Avenue.
The Bellingham Public Library Board of Trustees can be contacted at library@cob.org or 360-778-7220.