Posted October 6, 2003.
President Bush Announces 12 NCLIS Nominees
President Bush announced October 1 that he will nominate 12 individuals to be members of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Once they are confirmed by the Senate, they will complete a full 16-member roster. Some NCLIS positions have been vacant for up to four years, so the nominees will serve only the remainder of the various five-year terms they are filling, with expirations ranging from 2004 to 2008.
Beth Fitzsimmons, president of Information Strategists in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will serve until 2006 and, once her appointment is confirmed, will succeed Joan R. Challinor as NCLIS chair. Challinor was designated chair in July and she will remain on the commission until next year.
The other nominees, the year in which their terms expire, and the capacity in which they will serve are:
- Jose Antonio Aponte of Colorado, 2007, librarian and information specialist;
- Sandra Frances Ashworth of Idaho, 2004, expert on elderly people;
- Edward Louis Bertorelli of Massachusetts, 2005, public representative;
- Carol L. Diehl of Wisconsin, 2005, public representative;
- Allison Druin of Maryland, 2006, librarian and information specialist;
- Patricia M. Hines of South Carolina, 2005, public representative;
- Colleen Ellen Huebner of Washington, 2007, public representative;
- Stephen M. Kennedy of New Hampshire, 2007, public representative;
- Bridget L. Lamont of Illinois, 2008, librarian;
- Mary H. Perdue of Maryland, 2008, public representative; and
- Herman Lavon Totten of Texas, 2008, librarian and information specialist.
NCLIS Executive Director Robert Willard told American Libraries that when the president signed the Museum and Library Services Act of 2003 into law September 25, it included a new provision to allow NCLIS members to serve beyond the expiration of their terms if their positions have not been filled.
The commission, which is advisory to the president, Congress, and others has “sort of been invisible for the last two years, fighting for our life,” Willard noted. “It is now administration policy that there is to be a commission, and it’s an opportunity to begin anew with a grand strategic view.”
Posted October 6, 2003.