Adams County Library board to consider four-year term change June 10

The Adams County Public Library board will meet at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at the North Adams Library, with a bylaw change on the agenda that could shape how the system is governed for years to come.

Board members plan to amend Section 1.200, Article IV, to change the length of new board terms to four years beginning July 1, 2026. The proposed update follows recent changes to Ohio Revised Code Section 3375.22, making the meeting more than a routine monthly session. It is the point where residents can see how the county library system is adjusting its governance to state law and how future trustee service will be structured.

The board’s 2026 meeting calendar rotates among the county’s four branches, with meetings set for Manchester, North Adams, Peebles and West Union. That rotation keeps the work of the board visible outside the county seat and brings public business closer to the communities that use the library system most. After June 10, the calendar continues July 8 in Peebles, Aug. 12 in West Union, Sept. 9 in Manchester, Oct. 14 in North Adams, Nov. 9 in Peebles and Dec. 9 in West Union.

The North Adams Library is at 2469 Moores Road in Seaman. The branch serves Seaman, Winchester and Cherry Fork, and the building itself has become a fixture in the eastern part of the county since the permanent site opened in October 2013. Friends of the North Adams Library played a pivotal role in bringing that building to Moores Road, after a library first opened in the Seaman Community Center in 1992.

The board roster listed on the library site includes Phillip Rhonemus, Linda Stepp, Holly Johnson, Sarah Shelton, Linda Worley, Kayla Bowman, Elaine Lafferty and Executive Director Nicholas Slone. Trustees are appointed either by the Adams County Board of Commissioners or by the Adams County Judge of the Common Pleas Court. Under Ohio law, county library trustees serve without compensation, though they may be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses.

The library system says its four branches were founded independently before consolidating into a county-wide system in 1999. It is also part of the Serving Every Ohioan Library Consortium, which supports member libraries with automation and cooperative lending. As the summer reading season moves forward, with “Unearth a Story” running through July 11, the June 10 meeting will give Adams County residents a public look at how the library plans to govern, budget and serve the county’s branches in the year ahead.