The Urban Libraries Council has elected former Mayor of Nashville Karl Dean as a new member of the ULC Executive Board. Dean began his two-year term on the ULC Executive Board following a vote by ULC members – who represent top public libraries from across the U.S. and Canada – during a meeting held on June 22.

“We are honored to have Mayor Dean join the ULC Executive Board,” said ULC President and CEO Susan Benton. “He is a visionary leader who truly understands what it takes to strengthen 21st-century urban centers, including the critical value of public libraries as partners to city and county governments.”

At the June 22 meeting, ULC members also elected a new slate of Executive Board officers who will serve one-year terms:

• Vickery Bowles (City Librarian, Toronto Public Library) as Chair
• Richard Reyes-Gavilan (Executive Director, DC Public Library) as Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect
• Brandon Neal (Senior Counsel, Law Department of Wells Fargo & Company; Trustee, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library) as Secretary/Treasurer
• Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson (Executive Director, Houston Public Library) as Immediate Past Chair

“I am thrilled to be starting my term as Chair of the ULC Executive Board,” said Bowles. “As library leaders, we have important work to do. Now more than ever, we need to work together to put a spotlight on the issues challenging our core beliefs and values, including growing economic and social divides, threats to our democratic freedoms and the proliferation of misinformation in the digital age.”