From the Director...

Library Board

Service Nurtures

Young Leaders
 
Results from the 2004 Nebraska Rural Poll underscore needs for education and mentoring to bring young adults and women into community leadership roles. Poll results confirm that younger adults and women are under-represented in community leadership positions. The poll also indicates that younger adults are the group most likely to leave the community. Those involved in community activities, and especially those in leadership positions, are more likely to stay.

The Rural Poll, conducted annually by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Center for Applied Rural Innovation, continues to track perceptions of rural Nebraskans toward their communities. The findings are important in understanding factors affecting community prosperity, including those that have led to population losses in a number of Nebraska communities.

The importance of creating rituals for leadership transfer to younger generations is a characteristic identified by the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in its 1987 book, Clues to Rural Community Survival. Vicki Luther and Milan Wall, the Heartland Center study authors, observed that communities that survive and thrive are ones that involve youth in leadership activities. The corollary is that communities that do not involve youth in decision-making are destined to struggle and decline.

So what do the Rural Poll findings have to do with Nebraska libraries? High quality library services are characteristic of Nebraska’s best communities and contribute to community prosperity. Libraries present an opportunity to connect with community residents. They are one place where younger adults can experience leadership roles.

Former Vermont Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean is an advocate for citizen participation in government. He has pointed to service on local library boards as a way to become involved and to gain political experience. Library boards experience the gamut of planning, budgeting, policy-development, and public relations. They interact with community officials and residents. What better way is there for someone to gain political experience than a term or two on the local library board?
Library boards should reflect the composition of the communities they represent. Like many other local government bodies, young adults are under-represented. Library boards can contribute to the positive future of their communities by recruiting and recommending residents, including young adults, for service on the library board and other community organizations.

Rod Wagner

Note: The 2004 Rural Poll, cari.unl.edu/ruralpoll/04community.pdf, is the ninth annual survey conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Center for Applied Rural Innovation. The results are based on nearly 3,000 responses from a randomly selected survey of 6,300 households.

Governor Mike Johanns recently appointed Jean Ahrens, of Scottsbluff, to the Nebraska Library Commission, replacing Wally Seiler. Ahrens is on the faculty at Western Nebraska Community College and served on the Steering Committee for the 1991 Nebraska Pre-White House Conference on Library and Information Services, Nebraska Information Partnerships. Carol Spencer, of Broken Bow, was also appointed to the Commission, replacing Richard Jussel. Spencer has served as a Trustee for the Broken Bow Public Library and as a member of the Broken Bow Public Library Foundation Board of Directors.

NCompass is a quarterly publication of the Nebraska Library Commission, The Atrium, 1200 N Street, Suite 120, Lincoln, NE 68508-2023. Phone: 402-471-2045 or 800-307-2665 (in Nebraska only). Fax: 402-471-2083. Home Page: <nlc.nebraska.gov> ISSN: 1075-9719.

Director: Rod Wagner
Editor: Mary Jo Ryan
Design and Production: Valerie Dayton
Staff: Jacqueline Crocker, Mary Geibel, Janet Greser
Nebraska Library Commissioners: Kristen Rogge, Chair, Johnson, term expires 2005; Jean Ahrens, Scottsbluff, term expires 2007; Patrick Gross, Wayne, term expires 2006; Mary Nelson, Holdrege, term expires 2006; Velma Sims-Shipley, Fremont, term expires 2004; and Carol Spencer, Broken Bow, term expires 2007.

Commission meetings are held the second Friday of every other month, or as scheduled by public action of the board.