Viewpoint from the Chair - March 2013

We recently announced a slate of candidates for May's election to the Amigos Board of Directors. As you consider this list of nominees – all excellent choices – I thought it might be useful for me to outline how this process works.

The makeup of the candidate slate is the responsibility of the Nominating Committee. Each year the Chair of the Amigos Board appoints a fellow Director to serve as chair of this committee. We then look to the Amigos membership to find two committee members from those areas we are targeting for board candidates. We do this because these folks have strong "local knowledge" of possible board candidates residing in their areas.

I mentioned the "targeting" of certain areas for candidates because in order to maintain the desired balance of representation on the Board, the committee first reviews the geographic locations and library types of those Directors whose terms are expiring. This shows which locations and library types need to be targeted to maintain the desired balance.

For the upcoming 2013 elections, we must replace three Librarian Directors and one Independent Director whose terms are expiring: two academic librarians from Arkansas, one public librarian from New Mexico, and an independent director from Texas. Of this group, the three Librarian Directors were all eligible for re-election; however, the public librarian from New Mexico and an academic librarian from Arkansas chose not to stand for re-election. This would leave the Board with no academic librarians from Arkansas, no New Mexico representation, and no representation from Missouri (the two Missouri individuals currently on the board for FY2013 have served since the merger as temporary, non-voting members). Thus, the committee targeted these states.

Then the real work begins. First, a Call for Nominations is solicited in the Amigos publications ¿Que Pasa? and AmigosNow. After the call for nominations deadline has passed, the committee begins its deliberations. Once the committee is satisfied that all the desired requirements are met, it develops a list of possible candidates from those designated as Voting Representatives at their member institutions. The committee then contacts them about their interest in serving on the board. Those who are interested in standing for election comprise the slate. The committee often relies on Amigos' staff to recommend candidates for Independent Director. Historically, after the first term our Independent Directors are usually interested in standing for re-election to a second term.

The formal slate of candidates is announced to the Amigos membership. Complete candidate information is then posted to the Amigos website and mailed to voting representatives in an official "Call to Meeting."

This year's chair is Bill Hair, Baylor University, Waco, TX. We are fortunate to have two departing Directors agree to serve on the committee to help us find strong candidates from their areas. Serving with Bill are outgoing Directors Charlie Kalogeros-Chattan, Los Alamos County Library, Los Alamos, NM, and Bill Parton, Arkansas Tech University, Russellville. Bill, Charlie, and Bill deserve our praise for their diligent efforts in developing another outstanding slate of candidates. Thank you all for your service to this important committee and a job well done.