Thomas Rich (President) – Appointed 7/31/01, elected 4/1/03 to a 6-year term and 4/09 to a 6-year term.
Committees: Executive (Chair) and Strategic Planning Task Force.
E-mail Thomas Rich.
Tom Rich has lived in Zion his entire life and graduated from Zion-Benton Township High School in 1975. He was employed by the Zion-Benton Library during high school, and chose to make librarianship his career. Tom has worked at two other public libraries in Illinois and is currently working as an independent consultant for libraries. Tom has served as a director of the Illinois Library Association and founded the Reaching Forward conference for library staff–the largest one day conference of its kind in the United States.
Tom believes libraries should be a focal point of their community by providing social space for groups to meet and individuals to come together. Libraries are much more than books–they provide a place to keep all of mankind’s thoughts and ideas together. As communities evolve and change so does the library.
Tom’s favorite reading subject is Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Biographies.
