Library, Foundation Announce Executive Committees

Tompkins County Public Library and the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation today announced newly-appointed leadership for their respective boards.

Library Director Susan Currie said the Library’s Board of Trustees again tapped the team of Bruce Ryan and Kenneth McClane to serve as president and vice president. Thompson Terry of Newfield will serve as treasurer, and Dr. Janet Corson-Rikert was elected to the secretary post.

Ryan, of Groton, has served as a Trustee since 2011, and is entering his second term as president. He is the dean of external relations at Tompkins Cortland Community College and holds degrees from Ithaca College, Syracuse University and Capella University.

McClane, an acclaimed author and academic, has lived in Tompkins County for nearly 50 years. He is the W.E.B. Du Bois Professor of Literature Emeritus and former Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow at Cornell University.

McClane and Ryan will be joined on the Library’s Executive Committee by Thompson Terry, an independent quantitative risk analyst and owner of Thompson Terry and Associates, and Corson-Rikert a Harvard University graduate and retired associate vice president of campus health and director of Cornell University’s Gannett Health Services.

“We are honored to have such an esteemed group of individuals leading our Board of Trustees,” Currie said. “Each member of our Executive Committee embraces the mission and vision of our public library and is dedicated to ensuring that TCPL remains a treasured cornerstone of our community.”

Currie noted that in addition to electing a new slate of officers, TCPL’s Board of Trustees bid farewell to longtime treasurer Cynthia Nicholson, liaison to the Friends of the Tompkins County Public Library Jack Clark, and former secretary Peter McCracken, who pioneered the Library Foundation’s 2016 LEGO Build.

Library Foundation Executive Director Suzanne Smith Jablonski also announced the core leadership team of the Foundation’s Board of Directors—an 11-member board charged with championing philanthropic support and enhancing opportunities for the Library’s continued growth and service.

Returning President, Mickie Sanders-Jauquet, a former Peace Corps volunteer and public school educator, was elected for a second term at the helm of the Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Sanders-Jauquet will be joined by returning Executive Committee members, Heather McDaniel, vice president, and Enid Littman, secretary/treasurer.

McDaniel is the vice president and director of economic development services for Tompkins County Area Development. Littman has a background in accounting and works with several area real estate companies on issues related to management and development.

Foundation Board member Rick Hendrick was elected for another term and Lynnette Scofield concluded her service to the Board during its reorganizational meeting.

“With the successful conclusion of our 21^st Century Library Campaign, the Foundation’s  Board of Directors is poised to help lead our library into the future,” Smith Jablonski said. “Members of our Executive Committee and Board have embraced their roles as library supporters, and we are honored to have them advocating on behalf of the incredible work of our public library.”

For information about joining the Library’s Board of Trustees or the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation’s Board of Directors, contact Carrie Wheeler-Carmenatty at cwheeler@tcpl.org or (607) 275-1548.