The La Grange Library board of trustees is certain to have at least one new face after next April's general election.
Steve Wolf, a trustee since 2005, at last week's library board meeting announced that he will not seek re-election.
A second trustee, Rose Taylor, also is considering retirement from the board when her term expires next year, Board President Becky Spratford said.
Spratford said Taylor, who did not attend last week's board meeting, has been caring for her husband during a lengthy illness. She said Taylor told her she would make a decision sometime early in October.
Caroline Coryell, who currently holds the third board seat that will be open on the ballot, said she will seek another term.
Spratford said the library staff has prepared a document for any residents who are interested in running for election that describes in detail the board's responsibilities and what is required of individual trustees.
A copy of the document can be obtained by contacting the library's director, Jeannie Dilger-Hill.
Spratford also said that she has been designated as the contact to whom prospective candidates can direct questions about what a library trustee does. She is one of four trustees who are not facing re-election next year.
"We are trying to identify people who are interested in the library who have helped us in the past who might want to take the next step," Spratford said. "Hopefully there also are people who will come out on their own and run."
While the library board is prohibited from endorsing candidates, Spratford encouraged prospective candidates to seek endorsement from the La Grange Citizens Council, a non-partisan group of residents that vets and endorses candidates for local public office.
The deadline for consideration by the Citizens Council is Oct. 13. More information is available on the group's website.
Wolf cited personal and family commitments as his reasons for not seeking re-election.
"I just don't have the time," Wolf, a glazer by trade, said. "I might reconsider it in a few years, but right now I want to spend more time with my son, Boy Scouts and other things."
Wolf added that his wife, Barb, has a job that requires her to be on the road 32 weeks a year, increasing his parental responsibilities.
Barb Wolf is vice president of marketing at PLS Financial Services in Chicago. A former village trustee, she did not seek re-election when her term expired in 2009, citing the demands of her job.
Steve Wolf described his experience on the library board as "satisfying." Among the board's accomplishments during his tenure was opening the library's new facility in Nov. 2007.
Noting that four of the current trustees, other than himself, are either employed by other local libraries or have library backgrounds in their professional careers, Wolf said he hoped his vacancy would attract candidates from outside the library system, but who possess complementary skills sets that would help the organization.
"Somebody from business, accounting or some type of marketing would bring great insight," Wolf said.
Being a library trustee is "not flashy" in a political sense, Wolf said.
That has turned off some people he has approached about running for a library board seat. "One told me he would rather run for the park district," he said.
"We're not controversial," Bill Coffee, another current library trustee, chuckled.
"I love that the library board is not flashy," Spratford said. "I've been asked in the past about running for the village board—but I'm not crazy. Sorry, I'd like to keep my life."
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