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Donald F. Minner: Candidate Profile
Barrington Area library
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.
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Bio
City: Barrington
Website: Candidate did not respond.
Office sought: Barrington Area library
Age: 51
Family: Married, two childen
Occupation: Marketing
Education: Bachelors in Journalism and Communications
Masters in Business Administration
Civic involvement: Board member of CASA of Lake County
Elected offices held: Trustee, Barrington Library District, (Appointed 1995; elected 1997–1999, 1999–2005, 2005–2011.
Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: No
Candidate's Key Issues
Key Issue 1
To ensure that the ongoing needs of the Library District patrons are met in a cost-effective manner.
Key Issue 2
To ensure that the Library continues to deliver upon its mission:
The Barrington Public Library District strives to:
- stimulate imagination
- develop information fluency
- foster lifelong learning
- create young readers
in comfortable physical and virtual settings.
Key Issue 3
To ensure that we can grow and expand our services to the community by creative and cost-effective means.
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?
I believe the residents of our District benefit from one of the most progressive libraries in the state of Illinois. I'm proud to have served in this role since 1995 and want to continue working for our taxpayers to see that we continue to provide innovative and high-quality services to our patrons.
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.
We really operate as a team so individual accomplishments are rare. I believe the biggest impact we've made in the last couple of years is to find our Executive Director, Detlev Pansch. He's an incredibly gifted Executive Director with wonderful vision and passion for our Library. I've also led many of our community outreach efforts that have resulted in our book drops, book lockers, etc. We're trying to meet patrons where it's most convenient for them to interact with our services.
Do you have a library card? How long have you had it? How often do you use it?
Yes, I've had it for as long as I've been a resident in Barrington...almost 30 years. I use it on a regular basis.
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.
We are currently undergoing a space study to determine our needs into the future. My personal opinion is that expanding the current building may not be necessary to meet these future needs if we can be creative in how we serve the community. A good example is our SouthBranch opened in the South Barrington Park District building. It's been a great success and is one way to expand service in a different way.
What impact have economic and technological changes had on libraries? How does a library remain relevant? How should its role in the community change?
Economic and technological changes have had enormous impact on libraries. Through the economic difficulties of the past few years, we've seen an incredible increase in demand for services...more books and videos being checked out as people watch what they spend. Our meeting rooms are packed. And the computers we have available to patrons are in constant use.
On the technology side, we've become more efficient behind the scenes as well, implementing more advanced book checkout systems, and installing our automated return system. Both have enabled us to have our staff on the floor more with patrons instead of doing administrative work. To our patrons, we've always been out in front. We had e-book readers for patrons when they first came out. We now have iPads for checkout as well.
Finally, our programs for all ages have really expanded making the library a true community center for learning, the arts and entertainment.
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