Elections and Voting Results
2024 Board Members
Vice President (2 Abstained)
Andrew Fureste-Henry - 49 Votes
Andrew came to Koha while working as an Adult Services Librarian at the Carnegie-Stout Public Library in Iowa. After a time, they left C-SPL and had to go use Polaris in Illinois and no one liked that very much. Some time later, Andrew had the good fortune to work as an educator at ByWater Solutions, where they learned a lot more about Koha and got to share that knowledge with many fine librarians. Through teaching librarians about a piece of software, Andrew learned so much about libraries, equity and access, and the importance of community. These days, they try to apply that knowledge as the Assistant Director of the Dubuque County Library District in Asbury, Iowa.
Ed Veal - 21 Votes
I have spent almost 30 years serving libraries: public, academic, and special, in technical, non-technical and leadership roles. I started my career within the Lubbock Public library circulation department and transitioned to serve as their SirsiDynix Unicorn (Symphony) systems administrator and Information Technology Manager, a position I held for 10 years. I then moved to the Texas Tech University Libraries to supervise the staff IT Support desk. After spending 5 years serving as Lead Educator for ByWater Solutions and working with customizing OPACs, I accepted the role as Manager of Digitization Project with the Houston Area Library Network.
I was then called back to library systems work and the open-source community and accepted the position of Librarian Supervisor (Systems Librarian) with the McKinney Public Library in 2017. I have been serving as the Branch Manager of the Roy and Helen Hall Library within the McKinney Public Library System since 2020.
I have presented at KohaCon, koha-US and other smaller reginal conferences as well as lead the training of many ByWater Solutions Partners as they migrated to Koha. I was active in the initial years of koha-US as a charter member and served on the conference planning committee when the McKinney Public Library hosted the koha-US conference on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Having worked in a variety of positions ranging from circulation, reference, systems administration, training staff, IT support, and management, I have experience with many, if not all aspects of the library. This experience allows me to see issues from a variety of viewpoints.
Member at Large (Unsupported) (8 Abstained)
Famous Kose Dafiaghor - 39
My name is Famous Dafiaghor. I am a librarian by profession and a practicing one at the National Identity Management Commission’s Library Nigeria. My library runs on KOHA which was initiated, deployed and still being managed by me. KOHA has been a passion for me since my second degree days at the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. My Thesis was on KOHA as an Open Source Integrated Library Management Software (ILMS). As a result of my passion for KOHA, I have undertaken various trainings on Integrating KOHA ILMS with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) specifically in India and Taiwan.
I am a Nigerian, born in Nigerian, schooled in Nigeria. I bagged a Diploma in Library Science in 2006, a Bachelor’s Degree also in Library Science in 2010 and a Master’s Degree in Information Management in 2018. I am currently living in Nigeria. I am happily married with 3 lovely kids.
I would love to contribute to the development and proliferation of KOHA globally.
Fred King - 25
Fred King is a medical librarian at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC, where he has worked since 2005. During his first week there, he asked who the sysadmin for their ILS was. “You are,” everybody replied. As staff dwindled due to retirement and budget cuts, he also became the cataloging department, tech services department, and half of the reference department.
Fred is no stranger to Koha. He migrated his library from another system to Koha in 2013, without a vendor, only supported by information he picked up online. He also the MedStar Authors’ Catalog, converting Medline records to MARC and modifying Koha’s results and detail templates to display relevant information. He has spoken about Koha at a variety of conferences, including ones for the Medical Library Association, ALA’s Association of College and Research Libraries, Internet Librarian, KohaCon, and, of course, koha-US.
Fred is no stranger to koha-US, either. He has been a member since the founding of koha-US and served as its first Member at Large, which then split into Supported and Unsupported. He sees the position of Unsupported Member at Large as an opportunity to promote Koha for smaller libraries that can’t afford a support vendor but want an ILS, and has offered encouragement to libraries in the US, Europe, Africa, and South America. The Pestilence curtailed some of these projects, but some are continuing.
Fred is no stranger than anyone else who might hold the position, despite being known on six continents for being the travelling companion of a stuffed chicken. He also realizes the need for new blood in koha-US and urges koha-US voters to give careful consideration to any opponent for the position before voting to give him a second term. Koha is but a small part of Fred’s day job, and someone else may have more time and energy to devote to the position.
When Fred isn’t doing his day job or writing about himself in the third person, he enjoys photography, trying to get his home computer network to work, reading or listening to books, and sitting in his favorite chair.
Secretary (5 Abstained)
Wally DesChamps - 24
- BA: English Communications
- M.Ed: Counseling & Guidance
- Teacher Certification: K-12 Special Education
- 10 years: University Student Affairs Administrator in Conference, Events and Facilities Management
- 20 years: Secondary Special Education Resource Teacher; English I, II, III, and IV, Algebra 1 and 2, and Geometry
- 5 years: Starting as a part-time Library Assistant, Clerk to full-time Staff Supervisor, and Technical Services Coordinator
I first became involved in Koha in 2019 when ByWater onboarded us into the Koha world. I immersed myself in Koha while seeking new and innovative ways to work outside the box to make Koha work better with our workflow. I developed new protocols during the 2020 pandemic using innovative processes to handle the challenges of pandemic lending and continued to push the marketing of our library through its Koha base by advocating for and procuring Aspen Discovery and Aspen LiDA. I love technology and consider myself pretty adept; I find it fascinating…but have never had a day of “computing” in my life! Therefore, I am a proficient user and voracious learner, but a novice, nonetheless.
I believe I have a good working relationship with many of the key players at ByWater, both in the support and product enhancement sides of the company.
I have attended the Koha conferences in McKinney, Lawrenceville, and Portsmouth, and found them all to be very engaging, thought provoking, and beneficial to my work behind the scenes in my library. I wear many hats in our relatively small library but have the support of my director that will allow me the focused time to offer my services and help to support Koha-US. This, I hope, will not only enhance my work at my own library but continue my efforts to promote and serve the Koha community at large.
Kristi Krueger - 43
About Kristi Krueger: I am the ILS librarian at Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), a 27-branch system in Northeast Ohio. CCPL went live on Koha in August of this year, supported by ByWater Solutions. The migration has been an energizing experience where I’ve learned much about Koha, how the Koha Community functions (and supports each other!), and how that community is always striving to grow and improve. During our implementation, I recorded and distributed meeting notes for the migration committee, which has prepared me for the role of Koha-US Secretary.
Before joining CCPL, I worked at OverDrive for over seven years in the content services department, gaining insight into the vendor perspective. I completed my MSLS at UNC, where I held student roles in academic libraries. I’ve also had roles as an administrative assistant and press office associate, both which require organizational and communication skills vital for this board position.
Thanks for considering me for this opportunity to serve!
For details about these positions click here. This is a great opportunity for folks in the Koha community to contribute, and it also looks great on your resume. As stated in the Bylaws, nominees must be members in good standing at he time of the nomination. Members that have served on the board have found it educational, and very rewarding. If you have any questions, please let me know. Otherwise, if you are interested for yourself, or know of someone that is willing, and is a good fit, please fill out the nomination form fill out the nomination form here.
2023 Proposed bylaws changes (Article II — Membership) (Yes 67 / No 5)
The proposed changes eliminate the half-year option currently in place and codify a few elements that are reflected on invitations, etc. based on practice, including the fact that memberships are non-transferable and do not automatically renew.
Sections to remove are red and struckthrough. Additions are italicized in bold
ARTICLE II – MEMBERSHIP
Effective date: January 1, 2018
Section 1 – Eligibility for membership: All persons interested in koha-US and its purpose as outlined in Article I, Section 2 are eligible to become members of the organization upon payment of dues.
Section 2 – Annual Dues: The amount required for annual dues shall be $25 (USD) per individual each year. Dues are based on the calendar year, January 1-December 31. Dues shall be prorated at 50% to $12.50 (USD) from July 1-December 31. Dues are non-refundable and non-transferable. Memberships do not automatically renew. Revenue from dues shall cover operational and organizational costs for koha-US, as well as provide funding for the improvement of the Koha software.
Section 3 – Rights of Members: Each member shall be eligible to vote on major organizational decisions. Members shall also be eligible for discounts at various koha-US related events, as well as additional benefits.
Section 4 – Resignation: Resignation shall not relieve a member of unpaid dues, or other charges previously accrued.
Section 5 4 – Non-voting Membership: Non-paying individuals may still participate within the organization but may not exercise the rights of members as outlined in Article II, Section 3.
Section 6 5 – Voting Procedures: On matters which require a vote of the membership, notice will be given at least one week prior to the vote. Votes shall be gathered via an electronic poll distributed to members in good standing at the time of notice. Voting polls shall remain open at least one week following the vote. Following verification and tallying of votes, an announcement of the results shall be made via the organizational mailing list.
2023 Proposed One-time Stipend for koha-US Financial Manager (Yes 70 / No 2 )
The 2023 koha-US Board would like to honor our current Financial Manager, John Sterbenz, for his continued service to koha-US in the form of a one-time stipend of $600. John has served on the koha-US Board for the past 6 years, 3 of which have been in the role of Financial Manager. This role has no term, so John serves indefinitely, as outlined in Article IV, Section 2 of the koha-US bylaws – https://koha-us.org/about/administration/bylaws/. John serves koha-US even though his current place of employment does not benefit from the use of Koha, and John attends each conference at his own expense. This one-time stipend is not a regularly budgeted item, and would be taken from koha-US’ discretionary funds.