by Christina Stoll, MLS

To quote our 44th President, Barack Obama, from his inaugural speech on January 20, 2009:

“What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

As library members of the Metropolitan Library System, you have the responsibility and the opportunity to serve on the MLS Board.  Nominations for the MLS Board Term 2009 – 2012 are open.   The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 6, 2009 at 12:00 p.m., which can be submitted at http://www.mls.lib.il.us/board/elections.

The complete roles and responsibilities of an MLS Board member are on the MLS Web site at http://www.mls.lib.il.us/board/MLS_board_responsibilities_additional.pdf  and http://www.mls.lib.il.us/board/MLS_board_responsibilities.pdf.

What Does Serving On The Board Really Mean?

The mission of the Metropolitan Library System is “provides services to our multi-type member libraries and facilitates the sharing of resources for the benefit of all.”

All types of libraries need representation on the MLS Board to ensure that each library type has a voice. 

“It’s a great way to get educated on so many things pertaining to libraries - the inner workings of MLS, the Illinois Library Systems, as well as about other types of libraries. It’s a great opportunity to expand your library network and meet people who work in different types of libraries than you. On the flip side, it’s great to contribute to our library system. I enjoy the opportunity to represent the special librarians and make sure we have a voice in library system issues.” says current board member Crystal Megaridis, Manager for Library Services at Praxair Library Services, and Trustee at Indian Prairie Public Library District.

Serving on the MLS Board provides the unique opportunity to come to a table with other library types, similar and different than your own, to put aside your own individual agenda and to think of the community as a whole.

Serving on the board provides the opportunity for growth within your own leadership.  Alice has seen board members from their experience on the MLS board gain knowledge and a broader understanding, enabling them to become stronger leaders within their own library or community. 

MLS Board member since 2006, Sylvia Jenkins, Ph.D., the Dean for Academic Development and Learning Resources at the Moraine Valley Community College sees her time on the board as an:

“opportunity to frame the direction our system should be taking in future. Having worked in libraries for the past 30 years, being a Board member has allowed me to share my knowledge and also learn from others with different perspectives. This is one of the best professional development opportunities I have had, and I believe having a broader understanding of the system and statewide issues makes me a better Library Director.”

Serving on the MLS board opens the door for you to become more involved in state-wide activities or on library advocacy issues such is the example with current board president Janet Kelenson, who shared her grass roots efforts to save one of the library branches in her local library community in a past MLS E-nnounce article http://www.mls.lib.il.us/ennounce/2007/01_19/mlsboardpresident.asp.

To those considering running for an upcoming seat, Janet adds how her time on the MLS board has personally and professionally impacted her. “I am a public library trustee in a community of just over 50,000 people.  By joining the MLS board, I am now part of an organization that serves literally millions of people.  I see firsthand how different types of libraries work together to provide resources and save money for all of our members.  By serving on the MLS board, I've learned more about your library, my own library, and what we can accomplish together.”

What Does A Board Member Really Do?

As a MLS Board member you contribute your individual expertise and front-line library experience to the larger organization and library community MLS serves.

Alice shares a story involving former board member, Sharon Hogan, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with whom she applied with and was funded together an LSTA grant in the 1990’s.  The grant funding allowed the development of the first internet training room in the city, in which 3,000 to 4,000 librarians were trained on how to use the internet.  The efforts by this one board member opened library doors to librarians and students and gave back to its community.  

The MLS Board also serves as a check and balance for the MLS Executive staff.  Situations and opportunities are brought to the board in which Alice and the MLS staff seek the board’s opinion and collective expertise.  The outcome is a synergized solution by all parties. 

A great example of this is when in 2008 Alice brought before the board the situation of the MLS Delivery Department experiencing a high rate of injuries and overtime due to large volume of items being delivered.  The MLS Delivery Department Supervisor created several scenarios of possible solutions which were each explored and discussed by the board.  A trial solution of staffing the trucks with two staff members three days a week on the heaviest days was put into place.  In addition, the board contributed the suggestions of training the delivery personnel on how to best lift items, and to investigate better shoes and gloves for this type of work.  It was the combined expertise of board members as front-line library staff and MLS Staff that lead to the eventual solution.

MLS Board members provide input on the future direction of the system.  As a board member you have the ability to contribute to the growth and shape of new service areas with MLS, providing input to the discussion around if a particular area is important enough to sustain and providing MLS staff with direction around should staff time and energy put given to new areas of growth.

Crystal Megaridis, who is also a member of the Board’s Planning Committee, shares her thoughts on how her leadership contributes to the board  “The process MLS has followed to ensure all members of the library system have an opportunity contribute their ideas has been impressive. I feel confident that the plan for the next few years truly represents the needs of the library system’s membership.”
It’s the synergy that occurs at the MLS Board meetings that Alice gets most excited about.  The mixture of backgrounds and perspectives of the individuals at the table who come together in collaborative way to serve one library community as a whole.  Being witness to these lovers of libraries, individuals who are so dedicated to the profession that they volunteer their time to serve on their library system’s board is what Alice speaks most strongly to as the reason enough to be a board member.

Our vision is “to be a dynamic and responsive center of communication, collaboration, and education for member libraries. Our success will be measured by the health and achievements of our members.”

Join the future success of the Metropolitan Library System by submitting your nomination to become a MLS Board member today!   

Questions about this article can be sent to consultants@mls.lib.il.us.

Published February 18, 2009 in vol. 3, iss. 4 [View]