Hillside Public Library | Francia Garcia Hernandez
With four open seats on board, newly elected trustees will play important role in library’s future
March 15, 2023 || Francia Garcia Hernandez
In the upcoming April 4 election, residents will elect four new trustees to take a seat on the Hillside Public Library board. The Hillside Public Library, 405 N. Hillside Ave, has about 3,400 registered card holders, according to executive director Amy Franco.
Franco emphasized the next board will also play an important role in overseeing the library’s goals for the next five years, including increasing the number of visitors and expanding the library’s bilingual offering.
Meet the candidates
All candidates were asked the same questions.
Geneva Allen | Provided
Geneva Allen (4-year unexpired term)
Allen is a retired registered nurse who has lived in Proviso township since 1975, calling Hillside home since 1999. A graduate of Concordia College’s nursing program, now Concordia University, she forged a career in nursing in 1988 until her retirement four years ago. As a longtime resident of Proviso, she has seen how the community has changed and feels a sense of responsibility to get involved and see the standards of living improve.
Why are you interested in serving as a library trustee?
When I was in school, I worked in the Bellwood library for seven to eight years doing various duties and responsibilities. Working at the library, I got to really experience what the library is all about and what it has to offer. Now that technology has grown and taken over, our residents don’t really take advantage of the activities that the library has to offer. I would really like to see our young people take a greater interest in the library.
I really feel like when you have a physical book it has a different effect on learning.
There have been renewed efforts to censor and remove materials from public libraries across the country. How would you ensure books at the Hillside Public Library remain free and accessible?
It is the library’s responsibility to make materials accessible and available to everybody. I think in a sense we have to censor some of those things, maybe putting a certain section of the library for certain age groups. You don’t want to be prejudiced or biased, but I think with the board, you have to take a look at the material and see if it is beneficial or if it’s gonna do harm to the public because the library is a public facility. I don’t have any specific topics I would focus on, but you watch the news and see lifestyles that are being presented to young people. I think it is up to the parents to make a choice of what they want their children to be exposed to. Being a public facility, we have to put a limit, I would think that the board would have to take into consideration what our residents and the majority of our parents feel. At some point in time, you have to come up with something concrete, something that is going to be for the safety and moral values of our young people.
Sandra Barge (6-year term)
Barge has lived in Hillside since 1993 with her husband, current board trustee, Fred Barge who is not running for reelection. She holds a B.A. in Economics from Berea College in Kentucky and a master’s degree in leadership from the now-closed Schaumburg campus of Argosy University. She hopes to bring her experience as a board member of the Illinois Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and president of the condo association where she lives to the Hillside Public Library board.
Why are you interested in serving as a library trustee?
I think the library is an essential part of the community and it is very important that the community has an area where they can go, do research and take advantage of the programs the library offers for children and families. I want to continue to monitor and work with the library to maintain the interest that the community has in the library.
There have been renewed efforts to censor and remove materials from public libraries across the country. How would you ensure books at the Hillside Public Library remain free and accessible?
By following the standards of the national library association, not the demands of one particular concern or special interest group. The library has to follow standards set by the national library society, and the state library society. We have to ensure that those guidelines are followed.
Yolanda Bindert | Provided
Yolanda Bindert (4-year unexpired term)
Bindert has lived in Hillside for about 20 years with her husband and her son, who practically grew up at the Hillside Public Library. As an avid reader who spent countless hours in the library as a kid, Bindert finds the library is a great place to be exposed to new or different ideas. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Florida and her work as a journalist has led her to listen to and understand different communities, an ability she hopes to bring to the board.
Why are you interested in serving as a library trustee?
I thought it was an incredible opportunity to be part of an organization that has been part of my family’s life for so many years. My son spent countless hours after school at the library. For as long as we’ve lived here, the library has been an invaluable resource for myself, my family and my community. As a journalist, I’m a supporter of havens where books and ideas are available to everyone. Hillside has value there for generations and I’d love to see it grow and prosper for the needs of its community.
There have been renewed efforts to censor and remove materials from public libraries across the country. How would you ensure books at the Hillside Public Library remain free and accessible?
I strongly disagree with the movement to ban or remove books that’s recently made its way into libraries in some places. I’m against this censorship and frankly, the push to tell people what they should read and how they should think is dangerous. It has no place in a free society. The library has always been a safe space for ideas and for people to learn and any barriers to learning really don’t have a place in the library. I completely support the Hillside Public Library’s mission, vision and leadership.
Donna Kassar | Provided
Donna Kassar (6-year term)
The only incumbent candidate, Kassar has been on the library board since 2005 overseeing the addition of new features such as the computer lab and paving the way for future improvements. A resident of Hillside since 1999, Kassar found the library to be a great resource for all schooling activities, as she frequently used it while homeschooling her five children. Kassar teaches Economics as an adjunct instructor at the College of DuPage and City Colleges of Chicago.
Why are you interested in serving as a library trustee?
I really used the library when my kids were growing up. I think the library is a great place and a great resource for the community. As a board member, it is a great honor to be able to help bring that to the community. I love using the library, the library staff is great and we wanna make the atmosphere in the library a friendly, inviting place. I want to continue doing what we’ve started doing so far, making it the best place possible.
There have been renewed efforts to censor and remove materials from public libraries across the country. How would you ensure books at the Hillside Public Library remain free and accessible?
I’m a real strong believer in the First Amendment. I think everybody needs to have access to all the information out there. For the library, our material selection policy has a very strong statement in censorship as an individual matter. If a person doesn’t want a book or material, it is for them to censor it for their family but I don’t believe that the library has a place in any of that censorship. I think the library is there to provide materials and if you don’t believe in it, if you don’t want to read something or see something then, then you should censor that for yourself.
It is a big problem across the country right now, but I think it’s really important that we understand the importance of free speech and the First Amendment and that we uphold those values.
Anne Okai | Provided
Anne Okai (6-year term)
Okai has called Hillside home for 17 years, having raised her children in the area. She works as a graphic designer and is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute where she studied photography and digital imaging.
Why are you interested in serving as a library trustee?
I’ve always been an avid reader and libraries played a huge part in my life. As a child, I spent a big part of my time inside libraries. When I moved to Hillside, I spent a lot of time inside the Hillside library with my kids checking out books and reading to my kids. So, when they needed board members, they put out a call and I was more than happy to answer that call.
There have been renewed efforts to censor and remove materials from public libraries across the country. How would you ensure books at the Hillside Public Library remain free and accessible?
I think it’s very important that you take your community’s temperature. But it’s always important that nothing is ever censored. I think that choices are personal, and those choices should be made at home. They should not be a public choice. I would keep books constantly available and not allow small groups to push to ban the materials that they are not in agreement with.
Ron Vaisvila | Francia Garcia Hernandez
Ron Vaisvila (2-year term)
Vaisvila, an army veteran and retired United Parcel Services (UPS) truck driver, has lived in Hillside for over 30 years. After retiring nine years ago, he served as the recording secretary for People United Providing Services, a club for retired UPS drivers, not affiliated with UPS. Years ago, he was a council member of now-closed St. John’s Lutheran Church in Maywood.
Why are you interested in serving as a library trustee?
I want to serve the community. Education is a critical area of concern in Hillside and I am troubled by the ongoing issues at the local high school as well as the low test scores of our children. I believe that the library can play a crucial role in addressing these challenges by informing the community of existing educational programs and creating new initiatives to better serve our young people. I am also concerned about books in the young adult section that have explicit sexual content. In the past, I’ve asked the library’s leadership to move these books to the adult section.
There have been renewed efforts to censor and remove materials from public libraries across the country. How would you ensure books at the Hillside Public Library remain free and accessible?
I don’t think books should be removed from the library, but some books should be relocated to the adults’ section. There are two books, Gender Queer and Lawn Boy, that have graphic text and illustrations that are inappropriate for young developing minds. It is just common sense. I have communicated with the library director and the library board regarding the presence of sexually graphic books on the library shelves for children as young as 12 years old. Despite my efforts, these books are still available on the shelves. As a potential library trustee, I will take further action to address this matter.
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