PHILADELPHIA — May 10, 2021 — The Open Library Foundation is accepting nominations to fill two Board of Directors seats. The Foundation is looking for proven leaders who support open source projects and open source software development and are interested in enabling discovery and research. Nominees are welcome either from within the Open Library Foundation community or the open source development community at large.
The Board of the Open Library Foundation sets the policies and strategic direction of the Foundation. Board members serve a three-year term and will be able to advocate on behalf of the Foundation. Board members also serve as active members of the Open Library Foundation’s Roundtable which brings the Foundation’s projects together for collaboration and decision making.
As an international organization, the Open Library Foundation seeks Board members who will help with the Foundation’s mission to foster, connect, and support open source projects for libraries around the world. The Foundation acts as a safe harbor for infrastructure, legal, and fiscal operations for an affiliation of projects. This structure enables the member communities to work safely and effectively while being assured of the long-term preservation of their work.
Board President, Tom Cramer, Associate University Librarian and Director of Digital Library Systems and Services at Stanford University, says the Foundation is looking for active board members. “While the projects operate independently, the Open Library Foundation is able to provide broader advocacy for open source, its project communities, prospective communities and libraries in general. As members of the Board of Directors, the mission also includes continually improving the work of the Foundation and its operations.”
These new board members will replace David Carlson and Dr. Deborah Jakubs. David Carlson is retiring from the board as well as from Texas A&M University where he has served as Dean of Libraries since 2012. Dr. Jakubs is the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University. Both David and Deborah are founding Open Library Foundation Board Members and were active in the foundation’s first project, the FOLIO Library Services Platform.
The Foundation’s signature annual conference WOLFcon is taking place virtually June 1-3, 2021. Anyone interested in learning more about the Open Library Foundation and its member projects can register to attend.
The Open Library Foundation Board of Directors Nomination Form is available online and nominations are open until June 10, 2021.
About the Open Library Foundation
The Open Library Foundation was created in 2016 as an unbiased, independent not-for-profit organization to ensure the availability, accessibility and sustainability of open source and open access projects for and by libraries. Software developed by communities hosted by the Foundation is freely available under common open source licenses for personal, institutional or commercial use. The software is open and free in order to sustain an open collaboration of interested parties. The Foundation provides infrastructure by which the library community at large can organize, contribute to, and benefit from our projects — ensuring availability and a “safe haven” for member communities’ output that is separated from the needs and goals of any single contributor, user or affiliated party. Find out more at www.openlibraryfoundation.org.
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For more information, please contact:
Kathleen McEvoy, Media Relations, Open Library Foundation
mediainquiries@openlibraryfoundation.org
978 223-0438