Candidate Statement - Anne Silvers Lee

Nomination for IDPF Board of Directors, November 2011 election

Anne Silvers Lee - Free Library of Philadelphia
 
I would like to submit my name for consideration as a candidate for the IDPF Board of Directors.  
 
In my position as Chief of the Materials Management Division at one of the largest public libraries in the United States, I am responsible for the selection, purchase and distribution of materials in all formats for the more than 500,000 Free Library customers who access our materials in person and virtually.  I have been directly involved in the adoption, development and expansion of the Free Library’s ebook collection and electronic resources.  I have initiated training for library staff and the public on egadets and ebooks because the growth in our ebook use has been enormous and now rivals the circulation at our busiest branches.  I have also been integral in organizing the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast urban library systems’ collection development staff to discuss issues and trends affecting public libraries.  As you can imagine, digital publishing and its impact on large urban libraries is a permanent agenda topic.
 
I am seeking a position on the IDPF Board of Directors because the goals of the IDPF are of immediate interest and concern to public libraries.   We represent millions of library users who are also digital consumers, some of whom are visually impaired, others still on the other side of the digital divide.  Our collective buying power is significant.  I have been part of the public library community’s active and ongoing discussions with publishers about the present and future of electronic publishing, including use and pricing models.  Public libraries, indeed the library community in general, are not currently well represented among the IDPF membership. 
 
I would welcome the opportunity to represent public libraries on the IDPF Board as it pursues industry-wide adoption of standards development for electronic publishing; develops and maintains standards such as EPUB relating to electronic publications; provides a forum for discussion of electronic publishing issues; and as it seeks to accommodate differences in culture, reading and learning styles, and individual abilities.
 

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