Robert Willard, who has been a member of the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science since 1994 and has served as its executive director since 1998, has announced his resignation from the commission.
Willard explained that his energies in the past few years have been devoted to a successful effort to rebuff efforts to eliminate the agency. In October, President Bush named 12 individuals to fill longstanding vacancies on the commission. “It is only a matter of time until the Senate confirms and President Bush appoints these new commissioners,” Willard said in a widely distributed e-mail message. “In a way, it is much like being at the creation of a brand new Commission, and there is excitement in that prospect. But as I thought about it further, I realized that if I were to tackle something new, it should be completely new, not something I have been doing for the past 10 years.”
Willard plans to remain at the commission until at least the end of January and says he will do all he can to effect a smooth transition.
Posted January 2, 2004.