It was only a few election cycles back when the Oak Park Library Board of Trustees had so few running for seats they had to urge a resident to enter the race as a write-in candidate.
It’s a stark contrast from the current library board race, possibly the most contested — and diverse — in village history, with 10 candidates running for four open seats.
Outgoing library board member Matt Baron said it’s the most candidates he’s seen in recent history. Baron, who is running for the District 200 high school board in the April 4 election, acknowledged that he began recruiting candidates to run for the library board before he’d decided to take a chance on the OPRF race.
He recruited four of the current candidates but noted that he’s met them all and endorses all of them.
“I was so impressed with the quality and caliber of every single person [running],” he said. “Regardless of who gets elected, now more people are engaged in the process.”
The library board comprises seven seats and has staggered elections every two years with three seats one cycle and four seats the next.
Three election cycles back, Baron recalled, was when David Sokol — husband of former village clerk Sandra Sokol — was recruited to run as a write-in candidate because only two people had announced they were running for the three open seats.
Oak Park Public Library Director David Seleb, who has served as director of three other libraries prior to his time in Oak Park, said it’s the most candidates he’s seen run for any library board.
The number of candidates “indicates a great interest not only in the people of Oak Park getting involved in a deeper and more meaningful way in their community, but it’s also their recognition of the important role the library plays in this particular community,” he said.
Baron said his search for candidates focused on racial, ethnic and age diversity. He noted that six members of the current board are white and one is Latina. “Another thing I was looking for was younger candidates. At 48, I’m the second youngest [on the current board],” he said.
Baron hoped to bring more diversity to the board because “there’s a certain blind spot that emerges when you have people skewed toward a certain segment of our population.”
CONTACT: tim@oakpark.com