Jamestown seeks resident for James River Valley Library Board seat

A vacant seat on the James River Valley Library System Board gives one Jamestown resident a direct role in how a taxpayer-supported library system is guided for the next three years, with the term running to July 2029. The opening matters because the board helps oversee the services families use every day at Alfred Dickey Public Library, Stutsman County Library and the Bookmobile, from children’s programming and online resources to genealogy, the seed library and the library of things.

Anyone interested must complete an Application for Appointment and return it by May 22 to the City of Jamestown’s appointments office at City Hall. The form can be picked up in person at City Hall, requested by phone at 701-252-5900, or found through the city’s committees page. The process is public and routine, but the seat is anything but ceremonial. Board membership shapes the long-range priorities of a system that serves Jamestown and the surrounding area.

The library system itself was created in 2009, after Alfred Dickey Public Library and Stutsman County Library were legally combined following a successful 2008 unification vote. Its roots go back much farther. A free reading room opened in Jamestown’s Opera House Block on February 16, 1901. City support through taxes began in 1908, and the first trained full-time librarian was hired in January 1909. Stutsman County Library later made state history in 1954 by buying North Dakota’s first bookmobile.

The system says its mission is to “inform, enrich, and empower our community,” and the current board reflects that shared city-county structure. The seven seated members are Denise Waldie, Emaline Roorda, Gail Martin, Jacalyn Barnes, Joan Morris, Sarah Hellekson and Jessica Alonge. The board normally meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 3:30 p.m. at Alfred Dickey Library, 105 3rd St SE, where decisions can touch programming, access and service priorities for local patrons.

A recent city appointment of Jacalyn Barnes to an unexpired term ending in July 2028 showed the seat is filled through public action and can be part of staggered board terms rather than a single turnover. Stutsman County also posted an earlier notice this year for openings on the same board, underscoring that the library’s governance is handled through a regular public appointment cycle. With story time, toddler playtime, LEGO Club, film club and cookbook club already on the calendar, the next appointee will help steer a system that remains central to daily life in Jamestown.