Mohammad Iqbal: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: ElginWebsite: http://www.iqbal.coOffice sought: Gail Borden libraryAge: 65Family: Married for 33 years to wife Nasreen. Two sons - one is an attorney and the other is a Civil Engineer. Both U-46 grads!Occupation: Attorney- self-employed with an office in downtown Elgin.Education: 1. JD #8211; NIU College of Law, 19982. LLM - IT and Privacy law- John Marshall Law School, 20083. MBA - Univ. of Chicago, 19814. D.Sc. Civil Eng. #8211; Washington U.,1973 5. M.S. Civil Eng - Middle East U., Ankara, 1969 6. B.S. Civil Eng - UET, Pakistan 1967Civic involvement: Commissioner, City of Elgin Image Advisory commissionBoard Secretary, Eagle Heights Resident Association, Elgin.Board member, Human Development Foundation (www.hdf.com)Pro Bono Attorney, Administer Justice, ElginPro Bono Attorney, Prairie State Legal Services, Geneva.Member, Elgin Downtown Neighborhood Association (DNA)Elected offices held: None.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No.Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Advocacy for the Library.In every community, there are library lovers and library haters and our community is no exception. The Gail Borden Public Library (GBPL) is a dynamic place serving the community and the community GBPL. I use the library services and I am running to help maintain the services GBPL has been providing to the community and to further improve them this Internet era. I believe that a trustee should be an advocate for the library's mission. This does not mean rubber-stamping administration's decisions, but rather reaching out to the community and having a dialog on how best serve it.Key Issue 2 Economy. We live in a troubling economic period. With real estate prices plummeting, the tax revenue base for GBPL is expected to shrink. However, the library services are needed more than ever as the literacy is being redefined in this electronic age. Therefore, we need to be creative so that the library not only maintains its services but is able to offer new services for e-literacy. Key Issue 3 Technological Changes.The Internet revolution has changed the perception of a library being solely the ""books only"" or ""ink and paper"" information center. The digital tablets, e-books and Internet, present challenges and opportunities for the library to serve the community's evolving needs and help USA compete and lead in the world. For this, my goal is to help GBPL use new tools of information technology. This may include providing more digital books to offering audio and video making, editing and uploading interactive workshops and help local aspiring authors publish their work on the World-wide Web. Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you, and if so, what is it?The Gail Borden Public Library (GBPL) is a dynamic place serving the community. In light of the issues described above, I believe that my background in law, business and technology would help the library's mission. I have been resident of the GBPL District for the last 26 years and my family has enjoyed the services GBPL has been providing. By my candidacy, I intend to give something back to the community. Second, in this information age the #147;books only#148; image that libraries once had is disappearing. Accordingly, the task facing a library trustee is also changing. The perception that a trustee#146;s role is to attend a meeting once a month, sign a few checks, cast a vote now and then and make suggestions for some good books for the library to buy. In this information age, the books are being replaced by electronic resources such as e-books, video libraries, the Internet, databases and similar contents. So, a trustee's job has become more challenging and stimulating. That is what I enjoy!If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of important initiatives you've led. If you are a non-incumbent, tell us what contributions you would make.A trustee, by definition, holds a position of trust. I will be a new face on the GBPL Board. As an elected official, my goals would be:1. Advocate for the library and promote GBPL#146;s mission2. Strategic planning for GBPL to add services tailored to the Internet Age3. Provide financial oversight4. Comply with and uphold library lawDo you have a library card? How long have you had it? How often do you use it?Yes. I have had the GBPL card for 26 years. I use it often. It is very valuable, particularly for getting books thru inter-library loans. However, GBPL card is not the only library card I have had. For the number of years I have attended various schools in different parts of the world (see the list above), I have spent a good part of my life in libraries researching, reading and writing. In fact, the libraries have been my second home.Space is usually an issue at libraries. If that's the case at your library, would your solution be to expand the physical plant or make room by doing away with parts of the collection that technology has made less critical? Explain.GBPL building is spacious and does not need to physically expand at present. However, having a covered parking garage would help patrons. By this I mean a garage similar to one for the Centre of Elgin building with a covered pedestrian bridge. With the economy as it is, it would be prudent to have a plan ready just in case a grant, donation or windfall opportunity develops.Re the shelf space, it used to be that the number of volumes in a library determined how resourcful a library was. For example, before the Internet era, certain law schools alway touted how their library collection compared with other law schools - the more the merrier. However, the Internet has changed it for all libraries. The number of ""ink and paper"" volumes are no longer the sole criteria for a library's worthiness. Today, more and more information resources are placed in ""clouds"". Though the paper media would alway be there as a significant resource, it is no longer the only source of information. Doing away with some volumes and augmenting the collection with digital volumes, e-books and digital video library seems a viable approach. it would free up some space which could be used for e-literacy projects.What impact have economic and technological changes had on libraries? How does a library remain relevant? How should its role in the community change?Libraries have been in existence for last 4,000 years in various forms. A library would survive as long as it is connected to the community and serves its needs. As discussed above, technological changes have an impact on the role of libraries and the libraries are going back to the basic - a place where locals authors publish and archive their work.