Prue Rosenthal was re-elected to a second one-year term as board president. Also re-elected to a second one-year term was Rebecca Head, as board secretary. Barbara Murphy was elected as vice president, and Jan Barney Newman was elected as treasurer. Newman had served as vice president in 2013.

The board also voted to establish two special committees for 2014: a communications committee, and a facilities committee. The communications committee’s charge is “to consider the implementation of recommendations in the communications audit, and related issues.” The reference is to a 2013 communications audit by Allerton-Hill Consulting. [.pdf of Allerton-Hill report] Members of the communications committee, who were appointed during the Jan. 20 meeting, are Rebecca Head (chair), Margaret Leary and Prue Rosenthal.

The charge for the facilities committee is “to recommend to the Board steps needed to develop and maintain clean, safe, physical facilities that creatively meet the needs of the community and staff with an emphasis on sustainability, accessibility and flexibility.” Its members, also appointed on Jan. 20, are Margaret Leary (chair), Jan Barney Newman, and Ed Surovell.

Special committees for communications and facilities also had been established a year ago, at the board’s Jan. 21, 2013 meeting. The duration of those committees was through 2013. They’d been formed in response to a defeated bond proposal on the November 2012 ballot, which the AADL board had hoped would fund a new downtown library.

On Jan. 20, appointments were also made to two board standing committees. Members of the finance committee are Jan Barney Newman (chair), Barbara Murphy, and Nancy Kaplan. The policy committee members are Murphy (chair), Kaplan and Rosenthal.

Also on Jan. 20, the board approved its meeting dates and locations for 2014. Typically, the board meets on the third Monday of each month at the main downtown library. Three meetings this year will be held at AADL branch locations: June 16 at Traverwood, July 21 at Pittsfield, and Aug. 18 at Malletts Creek. [.pdf of full meeting schedule]

In addition, the board followed a recommendation by library administration and scheduled a retreat for Feb. 3. The board will meet from 4-7 p.m. in the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown library, where board meetings are typically held. The retreat in part will begin discussions for updating the library’s strategic plan. The current strategic plan runs from 2010 to 2015.

This brief was filed from the fourth-floor boardroom of the downtown Ann Arbor District Library, 343 S. Fifth Ave. A more detailed report will follow: [link]