Samuel P. Kendall: 2023 candidate for Fremont Public Library Board

Bio

Town: Mundelein

Age on Election Day: 39

Occupation: Strategic Relationship Officer

Employer: The Rotary Foundation

Previous offices held: None

Q&A

Q: Why are you running for the library board, whether for reelection or election the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

A: As a lifelong lover of libraries, the communities they nurture, and a recent Fremont Library District resident, I have been impressed with Fremont Library and its services. Therefore, I am seeking election to the library board to ensure that this time of population growth for the library district, which will continue to occur for the foreseeable future, will not diminish the library's services and that they continue to provide a space for everyone in the community to enjoy. I've worked with libraries and their boards in the past, from working with local library boards in California to helping libraries in Ukraine apply for grants to helping with my local library branch in DC. Working with my local library is an area where I can offer up my experiences and a positive way to give back to the community where I live.

Q: Has your library seen a significant shift in the use of online materials? Has it adequately bolstered and promoted its online collection?

A: From the board meetings I've attended, Fremont Library has seen a significant shift in the use of online materials. The library itself has a wide array of options to engage online with its materials, from LinkedIn learning to Kanopy to Hoopla to Libby (to name a few of the services), allowing Fremont Library users to access movies, music, e-books, audiobooks, classes, and more from their home or mobile devices. It has some of these services front and center on the website. You can find out more about them in the library too. Though I do think the library can always promote these services more, I think they do a good job of offering online collections and promoting them.

Q: What do you see as the future of role of libraries in the electronic age? How well prepared is your library for meeting that role? What new steps must the library begin taking?

A: The future role of libraries, is actually not all that different than libraries for the last 30 to 20 years. Libraries are still a places for learning and knowledge, but they are also places for gathering, offering spaces for the community to come together, and offer assistance where they can. Fremont Library is actually pretty good on these counts, with a good selection of media (books, movies, music, newspapers, and magazines), computers available for use, and spaces, activities, and services for library patrons to enjoy in person, while also having many services and aspects of their collections that you can access from elsewhere.

With the current expansion process underway, I think the library needs to make sure that there are more spaces for meetings and study rooms where people can meet and talk. I hope that the expansion allows the library to rearrange it's current stacks so that it can continue to grow it's "Library of Things."

Q: 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: I would like to offer my experience and background, with libraries, government work, and community partnerships, to think through the services offered at the library, while ensuring that the library continues to be able to provide great services to everyone in the library district enjoys as the population continues to grow.

Q: Do you have a library card? How long have you had it? How often do you use it?

A: Yes. I got my library card three weeks after moving to Mundelein in October of 2020. I use it quite a lot checking out books and board games, while in the summer I enjoy checking out a telescope to look at the stars and moon. I also use the online services to check out audio books through the apps, watch movies through Kanopy (and kids TV shows when my young nephews come over), and using the LinkedIn Learning option to upgrade different skills.

Q: Describe your experience working in a group setting to determine policy. What is your style in such a setting to reach agreement? Explain how you think that will be effective in producing effective actions and decisions of your library board.

A: I worked as part of my local youth commission when I was young, helping prepare policies affecting youth for my local community. I've also worked nationally with policy planners on foreign and international development policy. My style is to gain input and an understanding of different viewpoints on the policy issue from various stakeholders while trying to ask deeper questions. I'm not too fond of binary answers to a question and am often the individual at the table to ask questions that go three layers deep. Getting deeper helps achieve a better policy as you can get closer to the root problem instead of merely attaching a Band-Aid.

Q: What makes you the best candidate for the job?

A: My love of libraries, my background working with different libraries and library boards, and working on policy from local to national government, let me bring experience and passion to this position. As someone who works on partnerships and relationships, it is always beneficial in any group or community to build and strengthen existing ones and look for new ones, and feel like I can help the board in this regards as needed. Furthermore, as someone relatively new to the library district, it allows me to see the library and its services in the light that many will see in the coming years and work to continue to make sure it is bright and welcoming.