 My name is Austin Sarat and I'm a candidate for reelection to the Jones Library Board of Trustees. I've lived in Amherst for more than 40 years and have an extensive record of civic involvement. I served several terms on the Zoning Board of Appeals in town, have been active in Amherst Baseball and served on the board of the Common School. I've been on the library board since 2011 and I've been privileged to serve as president of the board since 2012. In my view, to be a good board member is not to pursue a personal agenda. It is to find a way to work with the staff, the other trustees, citizens and town officials to forge a vision of what the library should be and the services that it should provide. Board service requires hard work and good judgment across a range of issues, from budgeting to personnel to dealing with our endowment and to thinking about the future of the library. Board members should not attempt to micromanage the library. Let me tell you a minute about my views of what the library should be. The library should be a welcoming place for all people who love books and a place to introduce children to the joys of reading and the pleasures that books provide. The library should also be a crossroads for the community, a place where people of different backgrounds and different ages share a space and also have equal access to all of the resources that the library provides. The library should be a place in which the cultural life of the community is vibrantly instantiated. The library should be a place which contributes to the cultural vibrancy of the town. So those are my visions of what a public library should be. Let me say a little bit about what I think I've accomplished during my time on the board. I've supported the development of a thoughtful plan for the renovation of the Jones Library and am pleased that the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners has authorized a $13 million grant to help fund that project. That plan preserves the historic nature of the Jones but provides sorely needed spaces for teens, for our ESL program, and for our special collections. It will make the Jones fully accessible and fully compliant with the ADA for the first time in the Jones's history. I've also helped initiate a planning process for our branches. Our branches play a vital role in our library system. We're going to be looking at the programming, the technology, and the collections of the Munson and the North Amherst Library in the hope of enhancing all of them. I've worked to protect our staff from layoffs at a time of great budget stringency and I've worked to restore the homebound program which provides much needed library services to people who are unable to come into the library. I've helped rationalize our budgeting process and the way in which we deal with our endowment. The Board has developed very good working relationships as a Board and I'm proud of that. We brought the Board into the community holding meetings in places like Applewood and at the Munson Memorial Library. I've helped the Board develop new vehicles for fundraising including our annual Sammy's event which brings the community together to celebrate the wonderful work done by our libraries. In all of this I've tried to offer judicious and inclusive leadership and to foster a spirit of collegiality on the Board. I think this is no small accomplishment at a time when the politics of Amherst is so polarized. If we reelected, I will ensure that there continues to be an extensive process of consultation with the community about the final design of the renovated Jones Library and I'll include patrons and interested parties in planning for the future of our branch libraries. I'll work closely with the downtown community and the arts community to devise joint programming that serves a wide range of our population. I'll also provide prudent management of our budget and will protect and enhance the library's endowment. I will ensure that the Board continues to work well together and works well with citizens and the leadership of the town. With this vision of the future of the library and this record of accomplishment, I ask for your support and your vote in the March 27th town election. Thank you very much.