The October United for Libraries Learning Live session will focus on ‘‘Engaging Youth: Student Library Trustees,” featuring Anne Arundel (Md.) County Public LIbrary CEO Skip Auld. and student library Trustee Linda Gayle, on Tues., Oct. 10, 2-3 p.m. Eastern. Register now
This year, the Anne Arundel (Md.) Public Library Board of Trustees welcomed its first student member, Linda Gayle, a senior at Annapolis High School. Linda‘s position is for a one-year term with full voting rights. She aims to contribute to the library's expansion and engage the youth demographic. As a student library Trustee, she hopes to “learn how to work with other people, take care of legislation, push things forward and get better at being connected to the community and then mobilizing that connection to make change happen.” Join Anne Arundel Public Library CEO Skip Auld and new Trustee Linda Gayle to learn how the student Trustee program originated, how it fits into the board and library’s strategic vision, and tips for starting a similar program at your library.
Skip Auld, MSLS, has been working in public and academic libraries across the East Coast for more than 40 years. Auld is Chief Executive Officer of the Anne Arundel (Md.) County Public Library (AACPL), a position he has held since 2010. AACPL serves a community of 590,000 residents from the urban Baltimore-Washington corridor in the north and west to the rural half of the county along the Chesapeake Bay to the south. The library system has an 18-member Board of Trustees and a currently 14-member Foundation Board of Directors. There are 290 full-time and 150 part-time staff and a budget of $33 million. Two new libraries opened the past two years and two more are in the works.
Linda Gayle is the inaugural student member of the Anne Arundel County Public Library Board of Trustees and a senior at Annapolis High School in the International Baccalaureate program. Linda currently serves as a member of the Teen Advisory Board to the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and the Maryland Sierra Club Youth Leadership Council, as well as working with the Maryland Campaign for Environmental Human Rights. Previously, she has worked as an intern and communications fellow for County Executive Steuart Pittman and as a campaign aide for the Maryland District 30B Delegate election.
