Voters elect 2 to Hoag Library trustees

Photo by Tom Rivers – Residents in the Hoag Library service area on Monday elected Holly Canham and Kevin Doherty to four-year terms as library trustees.

ALBION – Residents elected Kevin Doherty, the Hoag Library president, to another four-year term on the library board of trustees on Monday.

Doherty has served on the board for seven years and has been president for six years, leading the library through a capital campaign and construction of a new facility that opened in 2012.

Voters also elected Holly Canham to a four-year term on the board. Canham is a frequent library user, utilizing the local history resources. She is founding president of the Orleans County Genealogical Society, and remains the group’s president after 16 years.

Canham is retired from working at Chase in Albion. She leads “Family Tree Fridays,” classes on genealogy on the first and third Fridays of the month at Hoag.

“I felt it was my turn to help out,” she said about running for the library board.

She wants to promote the local history resources and help people use those materials in researching their family histories.

Doherty has been an active community member for many years with the Strawberry Festival, 4-H Fair and Albion school district. He owns Doherty Communications.

The new library and a push for programs at Hoag that best serve the community are important as a quality of life issue for the Albion area, Doherty said.

A vibrant library with technology and other resources is part of making the community viable long-term for many young families and other residents when they consider moving or staying in the Albion area, Doherty said.

He is thankful the library has completed the new site, which opened in 2012. Now the focus is on providing the best services to the community, he said.

“The job isn’t done yet,” he said about why he sought another four years on the board.

The nine member board has three vacancies. Two will be filled by the board and Mayor Dean London also can appoint a representative.

Residents in the Albion school district will vote on May 17 whether the district can collect $687,211 for Hoag Library. That is up 1 percent from the $680,411 for 2015-16.

Voting for the library funds is part of the May 17 school vote from noon to 8 p.m. at elementary school.