IUG Steering Committee Elections

The IUG Steering Committee is looking to fill 3 positions (2 member-at-large, 1 vice-chair) for terms that are currently ending 2025. This page contains information about the steering committee roles.

Election Calendar

November 1, 2024: Call for nominations
November 30, 2024: Deadline for nominations (midnight EST)
December 2, 2024: Voting begins
December 20, 2024: Voting closes (midnight EST)
January 2025: Winners will be announced

Voting

The site contact for each IUG member can now cast their vote. Find out more information about voting in our forum post.

Candidates

We are grateful to everyone who submitted nominations for IUG Steering Committee positions. Your commitment makes this community great!

IUG Steering Committee Vice-Chair, Chair elect

Stephanie Ruhe

My current role is ILS Administrator (Sierra) at Springfield-Greene County Library, a 10-branch public library system serving a population of approximately 275,000 in southwest Missouri. I am responsible for maintaining our suite of Innovative software, including Vega Discover, and coordinating integration between the ILS and other technology initiatives, working both with vendors and our internal IT team. I have worked in Sierra system administration in a couple of different roles since 2012, and in that time have supported public, academic, and special libraries of varying sizes and needs. I also currently serve as a Member-at-Large on the IUG Steering Committee.

I am continually inspired by the way the IUG community shows up for and helps one another, celebrates each other's successes, and comes together to discuss and tackle challenges, be they large or small. I would be deeply honored to lead this incredible group of dedicated professionals. With over a decade of experience in Sierra system administration across diverse library settings and a deep commitment to supporting the IUG mission, I am well-prepared to advocate for our needs. My service on the IUG Steering Committee has only deepened my appreciation for this community and strengthened my belief in the power of our collective expertise and collaboration. Whether as your Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect or through other service and participation, I look forward to continuing to build upon the phenomenal legacy of this supportive, forward-thinking users group. Thank you for your consideration.

Steering Committee member-at-large

Bob Gaydos

A career database developer and former DBA and Unix/Linux sysadmin, Bob is going on 7 years in the public library world as a guy who, let’s face it, reads, replies and reacts to email all day long. He occasionally gets to be the Sierra administrator, Python/SQL/API coder and report writer. Bob enjoys sharing his many years of SQL knowledge with the IUG community and is willing to serve as a Member-at-Large in whatever capacity he can contribute.

Lorie Lee

My passion for providing access to information for all users is the reason I have worked in public libraries for almost 20 years now. I have experience in a range of roles, but I am happiest when I am doing something that furthers access to resources and services. My experience in acquisitions, cataloging and system management will be an asset to the IUG Steering Committee. Innovative systems are constantly evolving and growing to meet our ever changing needs, and I want to support this development in any way I can.

Daniel Messer

Dan has been involved in the IUG for years, occupying every level of participation from conference attendee to speaker to PIAC and finally the Steering Committee. He's committed to the community that is IUG and to the library community at large. Beyond offering support and encouragement on the Discord, he also maintains a repository of Polaris SQL code and wrote a book about the PolarisTransactions database. He's currently working on a second book about the views in the Polaris database. And while he feels weird writing this biographical paragraph in the third person, he'd like the IUG community to know he'd enjoy the opportunity to remain for another term.

Richard Pruiett

I have been working at Mid-Columbia Libraries, a public library in Washington State, for 23 years. I have had a wide range of positions/job duties in that time including page, customer service, inter library loans, supervisory, branch manager, special collections, and systems/training librarian. I am currently our in-house Polaris expert and trainer and am responsible for troubleshooting, updating settings/permissions, implementation of new features, changes in language, and anything else they ask me to do. I would love to become more active in IUG, and while I may need a bit of help to begin with, as I have not done something like this before, I feel it would be an exciting new challenge. I check the idea exchange and forums almost daily and check in on the discord as often as is possible. I get excited for upgrade and new features and communicating that with people throughout our system. I spent dozens of hours creating a series of 20 video trainings for system-wide implementation of Polaris Leap at our 12 branches, teaching myself how to use Audacity, OBS, Premiere Pro, and After Effects. I went through a lot of effort to make sure it would be done effectively for my team and I hope that speaks to how seriously I take things.

Alex Vancina

I am the Technology & Metadata Services Manager for Helen Plum Library in Lombard, Illinois, where I supervise the Library's IT and Technical Services operations. HPL is a standalone public library, and we have been Innovative customers for over 30 years, dating back to the INNOPAC days. Between my current and previous jobs, I have over 12 years of experience working with Sierra in both standalone and consortium environments, including the last seven years in a system administrator role at HPL. My past leadership experience includes serving as Chair of the Wisconsin-Illinois Innovative Users Group, two terms as President of the Reaching Across Illinois Library System (RAILS) Board, and as the current President of the New Lenox Public Library District Board. Earlier this year, I was named a Library Journal Mover & Shaker for technology innovation. I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve as a member of the IUG Steering Committee, and I hope to use my experience with Innovative products, library technology, and organizational management to keep this a great community and resource for all Innovative users to support and learn from one another.

Nominations (now closed)

Please use this form to nominate someone (or yourself) - the nominee's organization must be a member in order for the individual to serve on the IUG Steering Committee.

Duties

All Steering Committee members speak for the membership, serve on ad hoc working groups, and provide advice to the Chair. The Steering Committee is an active and working board. In addition to the meetings listed below, Steering Committee members should expect to spend between three and six hours a month on IUG related tasks. Following are the major duties of each position:

Vice Chair/Chair Elect is a 3-year, 3-position role:

1. Vice Chair (year 1)

Serves as Chair of the Program Committee for the Annual IUG Conference which involves weekly phone meetings with Innovative and the conference planning team and other duties
Performs the duties of the Chair in the event of the Chair’s temporary disability or absence from meetings, or if the Chair becomes ineligible to hold office
Solicits a Local Arrangements Committee Chair for the annual IUG meeting
Attends the future conference site visits and the onsite annual conference kick-off meeting (usually early fall)
Completes assignments as delegated by the Chair

2. Chair (year 2)

Oversees all annual conference planning including site visits for future conferences (usually early fall)
Coordinates the annual conference, including an onsite kick-off meeting (usually early fall)
Presides at the annual and special membership meetings of IUG and of the Steering Committee
Prepares agenda for the annual membership meeting
Prepares post-conference evaluation survey
Appoints (with the approval of the Steering Committee) standing or special committees as needed to carry out the purposes of the organization
Chairs online Steering Committee meetings
Performs other duties as are necessarily incident to the office of the Chair and as may be prescribed by the Steering Committee

3. Past Chair (year 3)

Serves in an advisory role to the Chair and the IUG Steering Committee
Chairs the Scholarship Committee
Chairs the Nominating Committee
Chairs the Beacon Awards Committee

Member-at-Large (2-year term)

The responsibilities of this role are appointed by the IUG Chair. Here are some of the recent positions held by Members-at-Large:

Oversees the IUG Clearinghouse
Oversees IUG Communications
Co-coordinates the IUG Idea Exchange/MEEP Enhancements
Works with our Regional IUG Groups
Serves as Polaris liaison/PIAC Chair

Please feel free to contact any member of the Steering Committee about serving on the committee. You will find our names and email addresses on the Steering Committee page.

Meetings

The IUG Steering Committee has monthly virtual meetings during the year — and the following in-person meetings:

IUG Annual Conference — all Steering Committee members are expected to attend, arriving 2 days before the Pre-Conference day and remaining through the first meeting of the incoming Steering Committee (just after the final session on the final day of the conference, typically departing the day after the conference)
IUG Annual Conference Opening Session and Membership Meeting — all Steering Committee members, including those newly elected, are expected to attend, along with a photo session to follow

Financial considerations

Steering committee members receive free IUG conference registration, complimentary hotel room for the duration of the Annual IUG Conference, including the additional days required, round-trip airfare (or equivalent transportation method), transportation to and from the airport, and an assortment of complimentary meals. IUG also provides airfare and required hotel nights.

Ideal candidates

The Nominations Committee’s goal is to establish a slate that represents the diversity of libraries among the IUG community: academic, public, law, medical, K-12, consortia, etc. No member library is too big or too small to be represented on the IUG Steering Committee.