Two people were appointed to the Niles-Maine Library District Board last week after a second sitting member announced plans to step down from the board.
The board was scheduled to meet virtually Oct. 15 to interview candidates for a vacancy created in August by the resignation of former Library Board President Tim Spadoniwhen Trustee Sue Wilsey also announced she was resigning.
According to a statement from the library, Wilsey, who was appointed to the board in July 2019, cited work responsibilities and scheduling conflicts with board meetings as reasons for her decision to step down.
Wilsey’s term is set to end in May 2021.
The remaining board members interviewed eight of nine applicants for the vacancies and appointed Umair Abdul Qadeer to complete Spadoni’s term, which also ends in May 2021, and appointed Becky Keane-Adams to fill Wilsey’s seat.
Qadeer, of unincorporated Maine Township, is a Chicago patent attorney. He previously served on the Des Plaines Public Library Board for three years before moving out of Des Plaines, he wrote in his letter of interest. During his time on the library board, Qadeer was involved in the selection of a new executive director, he said.
Keane-Adams, a resident of Niles, is a library assistant in the Des Plaines Public Library’s youth department. She is also studying for a degree in library and information science, she said.
“I’m interested in making sure the library is managed in a financially responsible and professional way so it can provide all residents of the district with the services they want and need,” Keane-Adams said.
“I think it’s good to have a group of people on board who are keeping an eye that things are addressed when they need to be, like in maintenance and collection issues, and that the staff and board work together to make sure everything is being run in the best possible way.”
One of the challenges for libraries today is serving patrons when in-person programming is not an option due to the pandemic, Keane-Adams said.
Other applicants for the library board included Thomas Byrne, Rosann Parra, Chiman Patel, Megan Roberts, Jason Trunco, Laura Beth Wolfe, and Steven Yasell.
Four seats on the board are up for election in April 2021.
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune