HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-03-17, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011.Council to investigate size of library board
Playdough practice
Kayla Cowan got in some one-on-one time with playdough
during the Spring Break Fun Activities at Blyth United
Church on Monday, March 14. The church planned to host
different activities every day throughout the week,
culminating in a movie day on Friday, March 18. (Denny Scott
photo)
The number of members on the
Huron County Library Board came
into question at Huron County
Council’s March 9 meeting, with
some councillors feeling the body
was too big.
Ashfield-Colborne-WawanoshReeve Ben Van Diepenbeek was thefirst to raise questions on thecomposition of the library board,asking what the minimum number of
members of such a board would have
to be; the answer being five.
The Huron County Library Board,
however, is currently comprised of
13 people and Van Diepenbeekopenly questioned whether thatmany people were needed to runHuron County’s libraries.This came just after the minutes of
the library board’s monthly meeting
were presented by councillor and
library board chair Brian Barnim. A
concern was raised from the minutes
that the time allotted to the library
board on the third Wednesday
morning of each month was no
longer enough.
Barnim said that the board is
allotted 45 minutes before the Huron
County Council Committee of the
Whole’s second monthly meeting
and there were several members who
were beginning to feel rushed as
Huron County councillors begin to
show up near the end of the library
board meetings. Barnim said that
while there was no concrete
suggestion, something in the
neighbourhood of a three-hour
meeting was what people had been
thinking of.Barnim admitted, however, that heis still very new to the library boardand said that he wasn’t sure whatthat number was based on.
Van Diepenbeek persisted saying
that he felt the job could be done just
as well if there were only five people
on the board.
He made a motion to begin the
process of reducing the amount of
board members from 13 to five
immediately.
Warden Neil Vincent asked Huron
County Librarian Beth Ross to
weigh in on the topic. While she
didn’t comment on the reduction
suggestion one way or the other, she
said that a change in the size of the
board will have to be approached
like a change in the size of Huron
County Council, in that any change
made now, will not take effect until
the next term (just under four years
from now), unless changes aren’t
made until less than one year before
the next election, in which case,changes will have to wait until theterm after next.“I don’t believe we need 13 peoplesitting there discussing our
libraries,” Van Diepenbeek said.
Council instructed Ross to
investigate the implications of such a
reduction and present
recommendations of a suggested
size. Because, as another councillor
suggested, maybe a reduction is the
answer, but maybe five members is
too few and the membership should
sit somewhere between the proposed
five members and the current
membership of 13.
The motion to request a report
from the library staff was carried.
After the decision had been made,
Central Huron’s Barnim joked about
the “curse” he carries with him when
it comes to boards and committees.
“If you want to reduce or eliminate
a board, put me on it,” Barnim
said.
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
Festival director
wins Governor
General’s Award
Theatre legend and sometime area
resident Paul Thompson will be
honoured by Governor General
David Johnston for a lifetime
achievement in the arts.
Thompson was one of six
recipients of 2011 Governor
General’s Performing Arts Awards
announced by Johnston on March 3.
Other lifetime achievement winners
include television personality
William Shatner; Howard Shore, a
three-time Academy Award winner
for musical scoring of movies;
Margie Gillis, dance artist,
choreographer and teacher; Leslee
Silverman, artistic director of the
Manitoba Theatre for Young People
since 1982; and Yvon Deschamps,
one of Quebec’s best known
humorists.
Thompson, a native of Atwood,
soared to fame in 1972 with The
Farm Show, a play collectively
created by him and the actors of the
Theatre Passe Muraille company
after living among, and
interviewing, farm families in the
Holmesville area. The play toured
this area, throughout North America
and overseas.
Thompson has also directed some
of the most familiar productions at
the Blyth Festival including He
Won’t Come In From the Barn;
Death of the Hired Man and Barn
Dance Live.
Over the years he has lived part-
time in the Belgrave and Brussels
areas.
The awards will be presented in
May at the Governor-General’s
residence at Rideau Hall.
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen