Ann B. Hutton, Executive Director

By posting actual ballot totals for the recent public library election to the ILS Ops Committee, SELCO is venturing into new territory.  Previously, when holding elections for positions on such committees as SELS Advisory or ILS Operations, only the results have been shared.  This is not so much because any of this information is secret but more because of years of organizational practice mixed with a smattering of Minnesota nice.  There has been a request for a reporting of the numbers each nominee received beyond the general information shared in the August 21 news item.  Here is that information.

There were two openings for medium public library representative, the seat vacated by Jeanne Johnson, former Zumbrota Public Library Director, in September 2007 and the additional representative approved by the Board in July. The public library directors were asked to vote for their choice of two candidates.  As has been the practice with multiple nominees, the top two vote getters would be the representatives and the individual with the third highest votes would be the alternate.

As you can see, there was a tie between LaVonne Beach and James Hill.  They came to an agreement between themselves, rather than have a runoff election, that LaVonne would be the representative and James would serve as alternate.  James graciously stated he would be willing serve as the “Junior Senator from Zumbrota” since he is new to SELCO and the ILS.

The small library representative election totals were:

Each of these individuals will serve staggered terms with responsibilities for “advising SELCO staff and the Technology Policy Committee appointed by the SELCO/SELS Board of Directors on issues related to the configuration, operation, maintenance, and continuing development of the SELCO Integrated Library System (ILS) and other technology services.”  Check the roster for complete ILS Operations Committee information including names, representation, terms, and email address.

To a question about how the election was handled, I requested and received the nominations, created and distributed the ballot, and received the votes.  SELCO staff members Molly Pherson, Regional Librarian, and Donovan Lambright, Automation Librarian, assisted with the vote count.  Board members on the Technology Policy Committee, Don Regelman and Fran Johnson, reviewed the results.

My thanks to each nominee for their willingness to serve.