Two openings on Winnetka -Northfield library board

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Updated: February 20, 2012 9:13AM

The Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District is looking for two new members for its Board of Trustees, who would join the Board April 16.

Two library trustees, Kathleen Hamilton, who serves as vice-president, and John Jansson, who serves as treasurer, will resign before their terms end in 2013.

Hamilton’s family will be moving to Bentonville, Ark. where her husband has a job with Walmart. Hamilton, who lives in Northfield, will remain here until June when her children get out of school.

Jansson plans to step down once the Library Board chooses its next library director and the applicant accepts the position.

The Library Board hired library consultant Larry Corbus to conduct the search for a new director. The deadline for someone to apply is Jan. 30. The Board plans to interview candidates for the job on Feb. 11.

The Library Board has other important decisions ahead. The library district also has hired a consultant to analyze its space and recommend how best to meet the objectives specified in the district’s strategic plan.

That upcoming project is one of the reasons Jansson gave when he announced his plans to resign last month.

The district is planning to make improvements to its existing building, on the corner of Oak and Linden streets.

“I was very disappointed the Board had voted 5-2 to withdraw from any consideration of using the post office site (at 512 Chestnut St.) as the site of a new library,” Jansson said.

Before the Board voted on the issue Oct. 17, Jansson had argued that the library did not have any idea how much it would cost to renovate the existing library, had not determined how much the Winnetka library property might sell for, and did not yet know how to solve the parking shortage, “which is severe,” at the current library.

Library Trustee John Canfield agreed with Jansson it was premature to rule out the post office property, which the village owns, as the location for a new library.

In his resignation letter, Jansson wrote, “I believe it is an unwise fiscal policy to patch up this building (at 768 Oak St.) and possibly stick an addition on the east side when that money could be redirected to provide as much as half the cost of a modern, sustainable building. I do not relish the thought of voting against pouring money into this old building with its inadequate parking, which I probably would have to do if I stayed until the end of my term, so it better that I leave before those issues come up.”

Jansson said building a library in the village’s downtown area would benefit the village, as well as library users. Village officials want to attract people to Winnetka’s business district and that is what the library does.

“A basic decision has been made that I don’t think is right for the village or right for the library in the long run,” Jansson said.

At 75, he also decided he would rather spend time with his family than preparing for and attending library board meetings.

Jansson’s third and lesser reason for leaving the board early was his disapproval of how one member was influencing library operations. Jansson wrote that he learned one Board member “had been inappropriately meddling with (the previous library director’s) decision-making authority.”

“It’s not really clear where the line is between the Board’s policy-making role and the manager managing,” Jansson said Tuesday, but he thought the line had been “breached” and he could not condone it.

The Library Board hopes to fill Jansson and Hamilton’s seats with one resident from Northfield and one from Winnetka. Any residents of the library district who are registered voters and who are interested in serving on the Library Board should submit a “Trustee Candidate Information Form,” which is available at the library and from the library website, www.winnetkalibrary.org, by March 5. The Board plans to interview trustee candidates on March 14 and make their choice March 19.