New Library Board Ain't Very New
Posted August 9, 2004; updated August 24, 2004
Due to a host of reappointments, the library system's new board looks
a lot like the same board abolished by the state legislature this past
spring.
Six of the "new" board's eleven members served on the previous board,
thanks to various reappointments by five county commissioners and by
the Atlanta City Council.
AFPL's "new" board consists of:
- Natalyn Archibong, a new member of the board appointed by the Atlanta
City Council.
- Willie Bolden, a new member of the board appointed by
District 7 Commissioner Bill Edwards. (Many years ago, Bolden managed AFPL's
personnel department.)
- Shirley Franklin, one of the two ex officio members
of the new board (the other is the chair of the Fulton County Board of
Commissioners). Update: Mayor Franklin has
appointed Dr. Delores Stephens as her designee.
- Barbara Frolik, a new member of the board appointed by
District 4 Commissioner Tom Lowe. Frolik is reportedly a patron of the
Northside Branch, an active member of the Northside Friends of the Library,
and is a retired federal librarian.
- Karen Handel, Fulton County Commissioner At-Large and chair
of the Commission. Handel is one of two ex officio members of
the new board; the other is the mayor of Atlanta.
- Jim Maddox, a member of the previous board of trustees,
reappointed by the Atlanta City Council.
- Stephanie Moody, a member of the previous board,
reappointed by At-Large Commissioner (and Commission Chair) Karen Handel.
- Roger Rupnow, a member of the previous board, reappointed by
District 2 Commissioner Rob Pitts.
- Zeda Stanley-Sartor, a member of the previous board, reappointed
by District 5 Commissioner Emma Darnell.
- Jay Suber, a member of the previous board, reappointed
by District 6 Commissioner Nancy Boxhill.
- John Thomas, a member of the previous board, reappointed by
District 3 Commissioner Lynne Riley (who is serving out Bob Fulton's term).
Needless to say, most library employees and many library users
are disappointed that the legislation designed to reform the
notoriously meddlesome and incompetent library board didn't result in
an entirely new crew of library trustees. It's particularly difficult
to respect Boxhill's, Darnell's, Handel's and Pitts' reappointments
of previous trustees in light of the County Commission's
formal support of
the reform legislation.
Fortunately, the appointing authorities were unable to prevent the
legislature from making the library board smaller (11 vs. 17 members),
and the County Manager, rather than the library board, will be hiring
the library system's director from now on. It remains to be seen
whether the new members of the board--who are in the minority--will
make a difference in the way the board conducts itself.
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