UPDATED: Gonzalez Appointed To Framingham Board of Library Trustees

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FRAMINGHAM – By a vote of 12-10, Millie Gonzalez was appointed to fill the open seat on the Framingham Board of Library Trustees in a joint meeting of the 11-member Framingham City Council and the Library Trustees.

Gonzalez will fill the seat vacated by former Trustee Chair Elizabeth Roy, who resigned in fall 2020. Roy was first elected to the Board in 2014, as a write-in candidate.

Gonzalez, a Framingham resident, is the Interim Dean of the Framingham State University Library. She has held that position since August 2020. She has a Masters in Library Science and has been a reference or electronic librarian since 2006.

Ten individuals applied for the position by the deadline, according to City Clerk Lisa Ferguson. One candidate did withdraw her name on December 8.

The joint board & Council let each candidate speak for 2 minutes and then voted.

The two elected boards took two votes, before selecting Gonzalez, to fill the term that expires December 31, 2020.

Gonzalez will need to be on the ballot in November 2021, if she wishes to continue on the Board of Library Trustees.

Library Trustee seats were 3-year terms when Framingham was a Town. They are now 4-year seats as a City.

In the first round of voting, there were 21 votes cast, as District 9 City Councilor Tracey Bryant abstained.

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Anyone who received 4 or more votes in the first round move to the second round.

There were two individuals – Gonzalez and District 8 resident Leslie White Harvey.

In the second round, Gonzales received the necessary dozen votes for the appointment.

Voting For Gonzalez were City Councilors Janet Leombruno, District 2 City Councilor Cesar Stewart-Morales, District 4 City Councilor Mike Cannon, District 5 Councilor Robert Case, District 7 City Councilor Margareth Shepard.

The other six City Councilors voted for White Harvey, who has twice run for District 8 School Committee and lost to Gloria Pascual and Jessica Barnhill.

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Library Trustees supporting Gonzalez in a 7-4 vote, with Trustees Ruth Winett, Robert Dodd, Annabel Dodd, Eric Doherty, Jo-Ann Thompson, William, Wray, and Jan Harrington.

Trustees Nancy Coville-Wallace, Arthur Finstein, Heather Klish, and Steven Malchman, supported White Harvey, who was on the search committee for a new Library Director in 2020.

Library Trustee responsibilities include establishing the mission and vision for the library, determining the policies that are implemented to govern the library, hiring and evaluating the director of the library, and overseeing the general management of the library. 

Library Trustee meetings are held the second Monday of the month (or third Monday if the second is a holiday), September through June. 

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Photo of Gonzales from Framingham State University website