Library commission leaders chosen for second term

Sonoma County Library commissioners Deborah Doyle and Thomas Haeuser were appointed for second terms as chair and vice-chair of the Sonoma County Library Commission at a commission meeting on July 12. Both look forward to guiding the library as the community emerges from the pandemic. The commissioners’ second term will last from August 1, 2021 to July 31, 2022.

Town of Windsor resident Doyle looks forward to helping lead the library as it reviews and reallocates its resources to meet societal challenges and build on strong community support for the library system.

“As we flesh out and reimagine the library during the next few years, Sonoma County Library can play a significant role in providing resources to help our community survive and thrive,” Doyle said. “I continue to believe in the power of public libraries to foster democracy, inspire innovation, empower the disenfranchised and lower barriers, thus inviting diversity.”

In addition to experience with corporate, government and public libraries, Doyle has served in leadership roles on boards for organizations of various sizes and missions at local, state and national levels. For more than 20 years, Doyle has moderated board effectiveness workshops for library trustees, commissioners and Friends of Libraries throughout California. Doyle has served three years on the library commission and was appointed by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and the Town of Windsor.

As a City of Sonoma resident, Haeuser has been involved in local government as a commissioner for various groups and entities as well as many private charitable organizations for more than 45 years. He has been a Sonoma County Library commissioner for five years.

Haeuser hopes to help steer the library onwards as Sonoma County moves out of the COVID-19 era, including securing funding for a permanent library in Roseland.

“I feel that Sonoma County Library can move forward in the coming years and continue to provide excellent service to our community,” Haeuser said.

The Sonoma County Library is governed by an independent 11-member library commission. The city councils of all nine cities, along with the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, each appoint a library commissioner. The City of Santa Rosa and the county also jointly appoint a commissioner.

To learn more about the library commission, visit sonomalibrary.org/about/library-commission.