91´«Ã½

PHILADELPHIA — United for Libraries has awarded the 2014 United for Libraries/Gale Trustee Conference Grant to Donna Gerardi Riordan, vice president of the board of trustees of the Orcas Island (Wash.) Public Library.

Riordan will receive $850 plus full conference registration to attend the 2014 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference June 26-July 1 in Las Vegas. A formal presentation to Riordan will be made at the conference.

Riordan is currently in her fourth year of a five-year term as an appointed trustee and vice president of the Board of Trustees of the Orcas Island Public Library. In her role as trustee, she has also served as finance chair, co-chair of the standing committee on facilities and systems and board representative to Orcas Island’s Crossroads Lectures series, along with other voluntary roles in the community, including the Orcas Island Community Foundation.

She also is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, treasurer of the Association for Women in Science, co-founder of the Orcas NO COALition and founder of Research Can, a nonprofit research organization. In addition to her volunteer activities, she founded DGR Strategies, a consultancy focused on providing strategic advice and programmatic support to national organizations, foundations and institutions committed to education and workforce training. Riordan has degrees from Georgetown University (biology) and George Washington University (science and technology policy). She lives with her family on Orcas Island, Wash.

“What I did not know when I joined the board was how critically important the library is as a community organization that responds to a dizzying array of informational needs by patrons in this rural, isolated community,” said Riordan. “As we plan for the future and embark on a capital campaign for an expansion, as a trustee, I realize that I have much to learn from my colleagues in other large and small, urban and rural libraries, as well as professional librarians. Therefore, attendance at the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference will be both a timely and an incredibly important mechanism to spend valuable time with colleagues in a setting designed to share relevant and creative information.”

The United for Libraries/Gale Trustee Conference Grant enables a public library Trustee to attend the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference for the first time. A grant of $850 plus full conference registration is awarded annually to a Trustee who has demonstrated service to the library. The Conference Grant, made possible by an annual gift from Gale Cengage Learning, is administered by United for Libraries.

: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the 91´«Ã½ that supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries. United for Libraries brings together library Trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information or to join United for Libraries, visit the or contact Jillian Kalonick at (312) 280-2161 or jkalonick@ala.org.

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