Library advocate resigns from Cook board to pursue advanced degree

This story has been corrected: The date of Joe Bean's term ends in 2017, and Bonnie Quirke's name was corrected.

The Cook Memorial Public Library District in Libertyville will be looking for a new board member with the pending resignation of Joe Bean, who has moved out of town to pursue an advanced degree in American history.

Bean, 70, had been working on a master's degree at the University of Illinois in Springfield and was commuting to board meetings. He said he has moved to Springfield and informed library officials that he would not be finishing his term, which runs until April 2017.

"I said, 'This just isn't going to work. I can't be an absentee trustee,'" he said Friday.

Bean previously served on the library board for seven years, including two years as president, until 1994. He led two unsuccessful campaigns to build a new facility in Vernon Hills.

"Those were the most tumultuous years, I think, in the library's history," he said.

He returned in 2012, winning a 4-year term.

"I just love the library. The staff there is fantastic. The library is so important to the community," he said.

Bean served as the board secretary and was on the finance and long-range planning committees.

"It's a big loss for the district," said board President Bonnie Quirke. "He was a great board member. I'm heartbroken (but) I understand his pursuit of a PhD."

Technically, the resignation has not been received, she added.

"I have an indication Joe is going to resign, but I don't have an official signed letter," she said.

The next step will be for the board to put out a notice and begin a search for a replacement.

Besides his work on the library board, Bean was in the public eye this past spring as leader of a group that opposed a tax hike to convert the former Libertyville High School, known as the Brainerd building, into a community center.

Voters resoundingly defeated the measure.