Please be sure to join the CTLS Board of Directors next Friday at 10 AM for our virtual annual membership meeting. Gloria Meraz, the new State Librarian of Texas, will be joining us.  We will also be introducing a proposed new name for our organization and outline some new initiatives for the organization.

Central Texas Library System, Inc. is pleased to announce that the new Executive Director position has been filled, and Eric Lashley will start his role as of February 1, 2021.

Attached is the CTLS Board Candidate Brochure for Fiscal Year 2021. The candidates are listed alphabetically and incumbents are so indicated.

They will be introduced at the Fall Membership Meeting, an online meeting set for Friday, 9-11-2020, at 10 a.m.

The Central Texas Library System has lost a vital  Board member, Dr. Larry Koeninger of College Station. Larry served on our board for several years and retired at the end of December from the directorship of the Bryan+College Station Library System. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Mary Koeninger.

The Board of the Central Texas Library System met on January 30 & 31 at the New Braunfels Public Library with Mary Beth Harrington facilitating. Many items were discussed and board members worked hard to plan the years ahead. Thanks to all who participated and to Board Chair Gretchen Pruett for hosting!

CTLS has an 11-member board who serve 3-year terms. Every fall, 3 positions (or 5, in one case) are up for re-election. The 3 incumbents have agreed to run again. 

The election is open to other nominees. An application is attached. Our nominating committee would be happy to receive your nomination(s). A member librarian can be elected to the board, or a community member you know who loves libraries and wants to help guide CTLS. The board meets 8 times a year in various locations or by telephone. Board travel is reimbursed.

The nominating committee is:

• Norma Fultz, Rio Grande City: 956-487-4389 or norma@rgclibrary.org
• Eric Lashley, Georgetown: 512-930-3551 or eric.lashley@georgetown.org
• Kerry McGeath, De Soto: 972-230-9665 or kmcgeath@desototexas.gov

The election is held at the annual Fall Membership meeting, this year in College Station at the newly renovated Larry Ringer Library on Friday, October 18.

More information will be sent out about the meeting closer to the date. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us!

LOOKING AHEAD

The Long Range Planning Committee had their final meeting in January. The draft of the CTLS Long Range Plan will go to the CTLS Board before their March meeting. The plan expands in a few ways the 2014-2017 Long Range Plan. Continue reading From the Executive Director →

As some of you may know, beginning in January I will be the youth services librarian at the Yarborough branch of the Austin Public Library. It is with a heavy heart that I leave my CTLS family. Continue reading My CTLS Family →

Here are the 6 candidates for the 2018 Board of Directors. The board recently voted to increase the number of members from 9 to 11. 3 board members are up for reelection. Adding 2 more members, this means the 5 candidates receiving the most votes will serve on the board.

The ballots will be sent out by email in the first week of October and will be due 14 calendar days later. Each library may submit one ballot voting for up to 5 of the 6 candidates.

CTLS will have an election of board members at the annual Fall membership meeting in Hewitt on September 15. You should have received information in the mail about it. Our board has overlapping terms; the 3-year terms of a third of the board members end every December.

At their August Board meeting, the CTLS Board opted to enlarge the board to 11. The Bylaws allow this.

The Nominating Committee is:

Tommi Myers, Llano
Eric Lashley, Georgetown
Michelle Cervantes, Round Rock

The CTLS Board Application can be found here. Please send your application to one of the Nominating Committee members by September 5.