Meet the Candidates: Edward Jourdan

Edward Jourdan
If I am elected as a trustee to the Carol Stream Library Board, I will serve with integrity and accountability. I am very passionate about the library and will be very open to the public about concerns that they bring to my attention. I will make sure that the people of the village are heard in terms of their needs for moving forward.  I will be looking for ways to enhance and expand the services that the residents of Carol Stream have come to enjoy. I will be looking at alternate sources of revenue to help keep our library system financial sound.

I want to keep our library great and in tune with the times for the needs of our residents today and moving forward for the future because a strong library supports our community. I believe that in this age of technology that we need to be addressing strategies that will keep our systems up to date and continue to look at enhancements when needed.  I have been registered with the library since a week after moving here. I use many different services of the library and have seen it grow from what it was to the great facility it is today. I will strive as my number one goal to continue improvements in the library and to establish accountability.

Residency

I am married and have lived in Carol Stream since 1981. We raised 3 children that all went to school in this community and used the library in Carol Stream.

Civic Involvement 

I was a paid on-call volunteer firefighter with the Carol Stream Fire Protection District for over 5 years.

Meet the Candidates: Dr. Bonita Gilliam

Dr. Bonita B. Gilliam

If elected as a trustee to the Carol Stream Library Board, I will serve with integrity, and I will uphold the best traditions in stewardship of taxpayer dollars. Responsible stewardship, I believe, will insure a vibrant library for current and future residents of Carol Stream.  A strong library system is the backbone of a strong community. I pledge to uphold the mission of the STL organization and serve with the interests of Carol Stream residents in mind.

 
Residency
I have lived in Carol Stream for 30 years.

Education
B.A University of Illinois at Chicago in Elementary Education
M.A. and Psy. D. Illinois School of Professional Psychology in Clinical Psychology

Certification
Standard Elementary 03 Teacher Certification K-9
Illinois Certified Professional Development Provider

Community Service/Volunteer Positions
Member of the Friends of Carol Stream Library
Member of the Cloverdale School PTA
Judge for the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technology and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO)
Member of Bullying Task Force in District 93 Middle Schools
Mentor for students at Glenbard North High School District 87
Tutor for students in the DuPage County Area Project (DuCaps)
Instructor for the disaster psychology unit for Community Emergency Response Team
Past member Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce

Professional Affiliations
Board of Directors University of Illinois College of Education Alumni Association
Illinois Counseling Association (ICA)
Illinois Association of Teacher Educators (IATE) Executive Board
Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) International Honor Society

Awards/Honors
2010 Teacher of Honor from Kappa Delta Pi (KDP) International Honor Society in Education.
NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher under the High Objective Uniform State Standards of Education (HOUSSE)

Announcing the First STL Meeting of 2013

Now that we have turned over the calendar to begin a new year, it is time to focus our attention more clearly on the consolidated election in April in which five trustee positions on the Carol Stream Public Library Board will be filled.  Readers who have looked over the information and reviewed the media resources on this web site are fully aware of the destructive changes to our library that have been done by a new majority of trustees on the Board, and we are now gearing up for an important political fight to elect new trustees who will restore integrity and professionalism to Board proceedings.

As we announced in December, we are very pleased to announce that the STL Committee has selected a full slate of candidates for the upcoming consolidated election next April. The five candidates are active library users who are extremely knowledgeable about the key issues that face our library, and the committee has pledged to support their efforts in any way that they can. Jim Bailey is an experienced current trustee who has agreed to seek another term on the Board, and he will be joined on the slate by Bonita Berryman-Gilliam, Patricia Johnson, Edward Jourdan, and Nadia Sheikh. Information about some of the candidates and their views on library issues has already been posted in the “Meet the Candidates” section of this web site, and more information will be posted in the weeks ahead.



If you would like to join us to learn more about our efforts, the next meeting of the Support the Library organization will be held this coming Tuesday.  Here are the meeting details: 



Date: Tuesday, January 8

Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Heritage Presbyterian Church

Address: 965 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream



If you know of other residents who share our concerns about the actions or the philosophies of the current Board, please send them a link to this web site and encourage them to sign up on our mailing list so that they can receive updates about the work of this organization. The direct link to the online form is below:


http://tinyurl.com/stlcarolstream

Upcoming STL Meeting on November 27

We are very pleased to announce that the STL Committee has selected a full slate of candidates for the upcoming consolidated election next April. The five candidates are active library users who are extremely knowledgeable about the key issues that face our library, and the committee has pledged to support their efforts in any way that they can. Jim Bailey is an experienced current trustee who has agreed to seek another term on the Board, and he will be joined on the slate by Bonita Berryman-Gilliam, Patricia Johnson, Edward Jourdan, and Nadia Sheikh. More information about the candidates and their views on library issues will be posted on this web site in the weeks ahead.

If you would like to join us to learn more about our efforts, the next meeting of the Support the Library organization will be held this coming Tuesday.  Here are the meeting details: 

Date: Tuesday, November 27
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Heritage Presbyterian Church
Address: 965 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream

If you know of other residents who share our concerns about the actions or the philosophies of the current Board, please send them a link to this web site and encourage them to sign up on our mailing list so that they can receive updates about the work of this organization. The direct link to the online form is below:

http://tinyurl.com/stlcarolstream

Important Meeting on November 8

Now that the intense focus on the national elections is coming to an end this week, residents of Carol Stream will begin to turn their attention to the next important election--the consolidated election next April in which five trustee positions on the Carol Stream Library Board will be decided. The STL Committee has been working hard for the past several months to select and support a slate of candidates who will be positive advocates for the library, and we continue to seek the help of all interested residents who share our interest in restoring integrity and professionalism to the Board.

If you would like to join us to learn more about our efforts, the next meeting of the Support the Library organization will be held this coming Thursday.  Here are the meeting details: 

Date: Thursday, November 8
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Heritage Presbyterian Church
Address: 965 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream

As we have written in previous web posts, even if you are not able to attend the STL meetings, there are many other ways that you can help the cause. We urge all interested residents to sign up on our confidential mailing list so that they can stay informed about the issues and share information with friends and neighbors. If you know of other residents who share our concerns about the actions or the philosophies of the current Board, please send them a link to this web site and encourage them to sign up on our mailing list so that they can receive updates about the work of this organization. The direct link to the online form is below:

http://tinyurl.com/stlcarolstream

Next STL Meeting is October 18

The work of the STL Committee continues and press releases announcing our organization have now been sent to all of the local newspapers. The April election is still many months away, but the task of selecting our five qualified candidates and educating them on key library issues is ongoing. The main topics to be discussed at the upcoming meeting are candidate selection, fundraising strategies, and outreach to members of the community.

If you would like to join us to learn more about our efforts, the next meeting of the Support the Library organization will be held next Thursday.  Here are the meeting details: 

Date: Thursday, October 18
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Heritage Presbyterian Church
Address: 965 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream

As we have written in previous web posts, even if you are not able to attend the STL meetings, there are many other ways that you can help the cause. We urge all interested residents to sign up on our confidential mailing list so that they can stay informed about the issues and share information with friends and neighbors. If you know of other residents who share our concerns about the actions or the philosophies of the current Board, please send them a link to this web site and encourage them to sign up on our mailing list so that they can receive updates about the work of this organization. The direct link to the online form is below:

http://tinyurl.com/stlcarolstream

Join Us For the October 2 STL Meeting

We have reached October and the number of residents who have expressed an interest in joining the "Support the Library" cause continues to grow. It is clearer now than ever before that many Carol Stream residents are angry with the statements and the actions of the new majority on the Library Board and are willing to work to replace these incompetent trustees with more informed and capable people in the election next April. We are getting closer to finalizing our slate of candidates and refining our strategies for the coming election.

If you would like to join us to learn more about our efforts, the next meeting of the Support the Library organization will be held this coming Tuesday.  Here are the meeting details: 

Date: Tuesday, October 2
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: Heritage Presbyterian Church
Address: 965 Kuhn Road, Carol Stream

Even if you are not able to attend our meetings, there are many other ways that you can help the cause. We urge all interested residents to sign up on our confidential mailing list so that they can stay informed about the issues and share information with friends and neighbors. If you know of other residents who share our concerns about the actions or the philosophies of the current Board, please send them a link to this web site and encourage them to sign up on our mailing list so that they can receive updates about the work of this organization. Just click the "Get Involved" tab at the top of the screen to read more about the goals of this organization and use the link below to sign up by using our online form.

http://tinyurl.com/stlcarolstream