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Five candidates vying for six trustee seats at Potsdam Public Library today

Posted 9/22/21

POTSDAM — The election for the Potsdam Public Library trustees will be held on Sept. 29 from 12-8 p.m. in the library basement. Five candidates are up for consideration for six seats. Running are …

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Five candidates vying for six trustee seats at Potsdam Public Library today

Posted

POTSDAM — The election for the Potsdam Public Library trustees will be held on Sept. 29 from 12-8 p.m. in the library basement.

Five candidates are up for consideration for six seats. Running are Mary Cabral, Abigail DeCastro, Kathy Love, Tammy Madeja and Maureen Taylor. Votes will be counted immediately afterward and results should be known by 9 p.m. said library director Annie Davey.

Three of the trustee seats up for vote retroactively have terms starting July 1, 2020 and ending June 30, 2023. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, trustee elections were not held. Those trustee positions are currently occupied by Kathy Love and Maureen Taylor, who are both running again, and Tammy Madeja who was appointed recently after Erin Cheney stepped down. Those terms expired June 30, 2020.

The other three seats, occupied by David Bradford, Cynthia Morin and Sandra Steinberg, feature terms from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2024.

“Kathy and Maureen are running for their own seats which have two years remaining at this point due to the skipped election last year as I think we've talked about before. The other two-year-remaining term from that cycle was originally held by Erin Cheney who had stepped down, and we've appointed Tammy to that seat temporarily. That seat, being the shorter term, will end up being the one that we leave vacant,” Davey explained.

Davey said DeCastro, Madeja and Cabral will begin serving the terms that began on July 1, 2021.

“If we find someone who wants to serve during the coming year, we could appoint them to the vacant position, but otherwise it would just be left vacant,” Davey said.

The vote on new officers would normally take place in May. However, since the library did not ask for a budget increase this year, its charter allows the elections to be held later in the year, Davey said previously.

Voting in the library trustee election is open to any qualified voters in the Potsdam School District.

Mary Cabral

Mary Cabral is the health sciences librarian at Clarkson University, working with the faculty and graduate students in the Lewis School of Health Sciences. She is an experienced librarian and an accomplished researcher with a long history of working in higher education, which includes eleven years at Clarkson, five years with the MIT Libraries, and three years at Boston Public Library, her bio said.

A Potsdam village resident for a dozen years, she has served on the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Board of the Potsdam Public Museum, and is an active member of the Potsdam Food Co-op. She has also volunteered as a tutor in Potsdam Library's Adult Literacy Program. Mary holds a BA from Wellesley College and an MLS from Simmons College.

“I have been involved in the library world on a professional level for decades and an enthusiastic patron of libraries my whole life,” Cabral said. “I feel strongly about promoting literacy in reading, technology, health and demystifying the complex world of information we all navigate. The public library serves so many important roles in our community by offering a wealth of programs and resources. It is a place for diverse exploration and discovery. It provides lifelong learning and educational support on all levels. It spurs personal productivity and cultural engagement, and critically, it is a hub for community connection. It is a small library with a big impact. I would be honored to hold a position as a library trustee and play an active role in maintaining its vibrancy in our community.”

Abigail DeCastro

Abby is a native of the Finger Lakes Region and has been living in Potsdam since 2016 with her husband, Miles. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania and is currently the assistant director of financial aid at Clarkson University. She loves the plethora of outdoor activities available in the North Country and especially enjoys snowshoeing in the winter and kayaking and hiking during the summer. Abby plays the clarinet and is an active member of the Potsdam Community Band and also performs with SUNY Potsdam’s Northern Symphonic Winds.

As a life-long lover of books and an avid reader, Abby is eager to expand her involvement within the community while advocating for the newly-renovated Potsdam Public Library, which is an essential public resource she remains passionate about. The library offers a variety of services of which many loyal patrons may not be aware, including an online media library, “1000 Books Before Kindergarten” reading challenge, resume building resources, ESL programs, and even a seed lending library.

A former resident of several different states and still a relative newcomer to Potsdam, Abby is excited about the possibility of lending a fresh and innovative perspective to promote the access to these and other invaluable library services across a broader cross-section of our area, DeCastro’s bio said.

Kathy Love

Love is currently serving as a trustee.

“I have been a resident of Potsdam for 40 years. I spent my entire career working at and supporting the Crumb Memorial Library and SUNY Potsdam,” Love said. “I am now retired with my post-retirement job being a substitute teacher aide in the Potsdam Central School system. I am a self-published children's author, a blogger, and a hospice volunteer. I fully support the good work they do. I also fully support the work that our public library does. When I visit the library (which is often) it feels like coming home.’

“Our library may appear small but it is big on services,” Love said. “Most budgets do not allow for the purchase of the very expensive new books when they come out. Our library sees to it that we all have access to them. A favorite sight of mine is that small child holding a stack of books, excited to get them home and start reading. Young readers become adult readers who can become leaders. I am looking forward to representing our library as a trustee.”

Tammy Madeja

Tammara Madeja is currently serving as an appointed trustee.

She received her BS and MS degrees in music education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

For the past 37 years, she has been a public school music teacher in Potsdam and, prior to that, in the state of Illinois.

Upon her retirement from Potsdam Central Schools in 2017, she served as Music Education Field Experience Coordinator and Student Teaching Coordinator at The Crane School of Music, State University of New York at Potsdam.

Tammy has held statewide and countywide administrative positions including membership on the New York State School Music Association Executive Board, New York State Choral Chair, Training Coordinator for the New York State Arts Standards, and President of the St. Lawrence County Music Educators Association.

Tammy and her husband Jim, Potsdam residents since 1985, loved raising their three children in Potsdam along with enjoying the many educational, cultural, and outdoor experiences our community provides, said Madeja’s bio.

“As an avid reader and a resident of Potsdam for 37 years, I have been inspired by the beautiful renovation of the library and grateful for the many services it provides our community from children’s programming to online resources to ESL and literacy tutoring,” Madeja said. “I hope to give back to the Potsdam community which has given our family so much by representing the library and supporting initiatives that will help the library continue to grow and thrive while reaching as many residents as possible.”

Maureen Taylor

Maureen Taylor, who is currently serving as a trustee, is originally from Iowa, but has lived in Potsdam since 1983 when she met her husband, Stephen. They have two children, a son Zachery and a daughter Elysia.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and a master’s of science in counseling from St. Lawrence University.

“Three years ago I retired from SUNY Potsdam's Student Government Association where I worked as a business manager,” Taylor said. “I have served on the board of the Canton-Potsdam Hospital Guild as a treasurer and secretary as well as the Potsdam Town and Country Club Board of Directors. In these capacities, I have had the opportunity to oversee budgets and organize events. I would bring these skills to the table if re-elected to the Potsdam Library Board of Directors.

“I believe the Potsdam Library is a valuable resource as well as a refuge in our community,” she said. “I love to read and our library makes reading, and so much more, accessible to the public. The range of services the library offers is impressive. From assistance with personal taxes to the literacy program and computer courses, this community provides something for everyone.”

“I invite you all to come check our beautiful, newly renovated facility,” Taylor said.

Absentee ballots

Applications for absentee ballots can be picked up between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, except holidays, from the library board clerk.

Completed applications must be received by the clerk at least seven days before the election if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the election, if the ballot is to be delivered personally to the voter.

Absentee ballots must be received by the clerk no later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 29.