Barbara Nakanishi: 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: NilesWebsite: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Niles libraryAge: Candidate did not respond.Family: married to Joe Nakanishi, a civil engineerOccupation: architect, licensed in Illinois and HawaiiEducation: School of Architecture, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Civic involvement: Vice President of the Board of Trustees of the Niles Public Library District;Commissioner on the Village of Niles Zoning Board of Appeals and Plan Commission;member of subcommittee for NILES 2030;tutored English as a second language at Oakton Community College;taught an architecture workshop to the 8th grade students at Culver School;spoke to the girls at a career fair at Emerson School;spoke to the girls on career day at Resurrection High School (my Alma Mater) every year since 2000;spoke to the Girl Scouts in Rockford at a career fail;Elected offices held: Board of Trustees of the Niles Public Library DistrictHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: absolutely not!Candidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 It's important to keep the Niles Library financially sound in order to continue its outstanding service to people - especially in these difficult economic times. The Niles Library is a world-class institution. While I was standing outside the Library one day last fall asking people to sign my petition to be on the ballot, I discovered that, at least on that day, eight out of ten people coming to our Library were not in our District. People come from Chicago and all over the Northwest suburbs to our Library! What does that tell you?! The Niles Library is an extremely valuable resource to the good people of Niles and also to our neighbors.Key Issue 2 It's important to provide computers with current technology for the use of people who do not have computers at home.Key Issue 3 We need to take a look at the Library and see what changes could be made to keep up with evolving patrons' needs.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'm running for re-election for Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Niles Public Library District. I've lived in Niles for 23 years. It's a great Village! This is a good way for me to give back to my community.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.Each Trustee brings different talents to the table. As an architect, I bring expert knowledge and experience to the Board. Now we are working on a Strategic Plan that most likely will result in some physical changes to the building. I'm also on the Building and Grounds Committee.Do you have a library card? How long have you had it? How often do you use it?Of course, I have a Library card! I've had it for as long as I've lived in Niles. Before that, I had a Chicago Library card.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 in the process of creating a Strategic Plan, and the answers to those questions will come as a result of our findings.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 dealt a cruel blow by the economy. For example, due to lack of funding by the State of Illinois, the probably-taken-for-granted-by-patrons system of inter-library loans almost died. The North Suburban Library System did die, forcing different library systems in the State to join together to stay alive. The separate library systems just could no longer stay alive without merging.