NEWS RELEASE

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) elected new officers to serve for FY2021 at its Board Meeting on July 9, 2020.

The Board voted Commissioner Mary Ann Cluggish as Board Chair. Commissioner Cluggish was appointed to the Board in 2011 and most recently reappointed in 2019. She served as a trustee of the Wellesley Free Library for twelve years and was successful in garnering support for the library building project which resulted in a new $14 million main library. She is currently a member of the library's Friends group. She serves on the MBLC’s Construction Team, Legislative Committee, Public Relations Advisory Committee, and State Aid to Public Libraries Committee. This will be her third time serving as Chair.

Commissioner Les Ball will serve as Vice Chair.  He was appointed to the Board in 2018. Commissioner Ball worked for 10 years as a member, president, and chairman of the Scituate Library Foundation capital campaign. With his help, the Foundation was able to raise close to $2 million to support the town’s library building project. The project was funded in part by a $4,985,480 Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program (MPLCP) grant from MBLC.

Commissioner N. Janeen Resnick will serve as Secretary. She was appointed to the Board in 2012 and reappointed in 2017. She is a former Vice Chair of the MBLC and is currently serving on the Small Libraries in Networks Review Committee and the Resource Sharing Committee. Ms. Resnick's career in libraries spans 40 years and includes extensive work in the areas of automation of library services and resource sharing. As Assistant Regional Administrator for WMRLS, Resnick's responsibilities included Interlibrary Loan, Resource Sharing, Readers' Advisory Service, and Collection Development.

The Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary make up the Executive Committee of the MBLC and are elected every July by the board and hold their office for one year. Commissioners can serve for two successive one-year terms in any office, and after one year are eligible for election again.

Established in 1890, the MBLC was the first state library commission in the United States. The nine-member, volunteer Commission is appointed by the Governor. The MBLC supports statewide programming and innovation in libraries to ensure equal access to library services for every resident in the Commonwealth.