Board of Trustees
The Library Board of Trustees serves as an advisory board for the Library Director. Each member is dedicated to library advocacy and listens to the needs of the community regarding what is and isn’t working within the library system. They have served as a voice for the transformation of Main Library and have spoken in support of increased outreach efforts for the Bragtown community while the location was closed for repairs. They share excitement from friends, neighbors, and library patrons who express their love for Durham County Library. The Board of Trustees also supports the library’s budget requests to Durham County and works diligently with staff to review and approve library policies. They are a committed group of individuals, dedicated to Durham County having the best library system possible.
Members of the Board of Trustees are appointed by the Board of County Commissioners. The general public is welcome and encouraged to apply for these appointments.
Meeting schedule, agendas, and minutes
By-Laws of the Board of Trustees
Trustee Member Duties and Responsibilities
Committees
Public comment
Trustees’ Award
Board members
Willis Whichard
Chair
Email: wwhichard@tillmanfirm.com
I am a lawyer by profession. My career has consisted of private law practice, legislative and judicial service, teaching, and law-school administration. I value the Library because it is the most democratic institution of which I know, benefiting all levels of society. I have used it since I was a small boy. My reading interests are primarily history and biography. I thus owe it a large debt which I have endeavored to pay by service as the Founding President of the Durham Library Foundation and now as a member of the board of trustees.
Ann McLain
Vice Chair
Email: amclaindurham@gmail.com
Ann McLain is retired from GlaxoSmithKline, where she began her career as a reference librarian after completing her Master’s Degree in Library Science at UNC-CH. Over the course of her career with GSK, Ann worked in information management, competitor intelligence, and project management roles.
Ann moved to Durham to attend Duke University and stayed to be part of the amazing Durham community. She recently joined the Library Board of Trustees to support the library in its mission and goals as a cornerstone of that community.
Ann is a voracious reader; she has recently been reading retellings of Greek myths from the point of view of the women. Ann’s husband and sister are both librarians, and when they travel together they always visit libraries.
Pronouns: she/her
Aquaris Anderson
Carl Newman
Email: carl.m.newman@gmail.com
Carl Newman is a lawyer, public servant, and active member of the Durham community. He brings a lifelong love of libraries started by Mrs. Marks, his elementary school librarian. Carl has previously served on a variety of boards including the Durham Citizens Advisory Committee, the Chicago Bar Foundation Young Professionals Board, and Global Girls, a nonprofit dedicated to providing in- and out-of-school arts programming for girls from middle through high school in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.
Carl and his spouse moved to Durham in 2018. He joined the Board of Trustees in 2023 when his daughter turned 1. She has already had made her first few trips to Main Library, where she enjoys the collection of board books and puzzles for infants and younger children.
Pronouns: he/him
Ivanhoe Francis
kynita stringer-stanback
Email: bullcitylbot@gmail.com
kynita stringer-stanback is a seventh-generation North Carolinian and two-time alum of UNC-Chapel Hill – which she notes is the same university whose founding leaders enslaved her ancestors.
kynita has served in academic, corporate, public, and special libraries throughout a 20 year career as an information professional and identifies as a research designer, storyteller, and information activist.
kynita joined the Board of Trustees to become more active in local community initiatives. kynita is concerned with the intellectual property rights of creators, empowering creators, and interrogating the publishing process, paywalls, and public access to information.
Pronouns: ask me
Leah Josephson
Tal Matalon
Email: ms.matalon.reads@gmail.com
Tal Matalon is a reader, educator, parent, and community advocate. In her home town of Haifa, Israel, Tal read her way through her neighborhood library, elementary, middle, and high school libraries, and the library of Isha L’Isha Feminist Center, and earned her BA in English Language and Literature and Hebrew Linguistics. After moving to Durham in 2012, Tal found her passion for education and has worked in Durham Public Schools since 2013, first as an instructional assistant and then as a middle and high school English teacher.
Tal joined the Library Board of Trustees in 2023, while returning to work from parental leave with her second child. She is excited to serve the library, probably the most amazing institution in existence, and explore all the ways to further the love of reading and literacy across all Durham communities.
Pronouns: she/her
Tracy Jackson
Email: tracymariejackson@gmail.com
Tracy M Jackson is an enthusiastic believer in libraries as vital places for free and open learning, community, openness, inclusivity, fun, and relaxation. She’s lived in Durham since 2014 and works in the Duke University Libraries as an archivist. She holds a Masters of Library Science from UNC Chapel Hill and a BA from Florida State University. She has also volunteered with the Durham Literacy Center and the Animal Protection Society of Durham. She loves crafting, including pottery and sewing, and is an avid reader of science fiction, fantasy, romance, science, history, and progressive activism.
Tracy is delighted and honored to serve on the Board of Trustees and seeks to support the library’s staff and mission, and to give back to the Durham community.
Pronouns: she/her
Liaisons
Anita Robinson
Liaison from the Durham County Library Staff
Email: arobinson@dconc.gov
919-560-0167
Anita Robinson is a Durham native with a B.A. degree in public administration from North Carolina Central University. Anita is the board liaison and the executive assistant to the Durham County Library Director. She enjoys working at the library, as it reaches so many people and offers many diverse programs to the community. Anita is a big Carolina Panthers fan!
Pronouns: she/her