(PHILADELPHIA, PA) -- The Open Library Foundation, which enables the development, accessibility and sustainability of open source projects for and by libraries, is making changes to its Board.
Tom Cramer, the Associate University Librarian and Director of Digital Library Systems and Services at Stanford University will replace David Carlson as Board President. Carlson, Dean of Libraries at Texas A&M University, will maintain his seat on the Board. The Board is also welcoming Chris Keene and Paula Sullenger.
Carlson says laying the groundwork for the Open Library Foundation helps ensure the viability of open source software for libraries across the globe. “The Open Library Foundation was founded with a vision to be a home, a kind of safe haven, for open software projects that served the mission of libraries. The Foundation serves as a neutral, nonprofit organizational home to provide administrative support and ensure project sustainability. With the Foundation’s legal, operational and financial bases in good shape now, we’re ready to grow, we’re ready to realize our vision so that more projects benefit, and more people become aware of the opportunities that open source projects present.”
Cramer has been a member of the Open Library Foundation Board since 2018 and has a long history of innovation and leadership in open source projects and communities. As President of the Open Library Foundation Board, he plans to focus on expanding support for open source efforts in the library sector. “Libraries are by nature collaborative, and service organizations that work with each other to provision information. Open source efforts reflect our ethos of innovation and working in community for the larger good. The Open Library Foundation understands libraries and wants to be there for projects and innovators who need support.”
Chris Keene leads the data and technology team within digital resources at Jisc, which works with UK institutions to promote digital advancements.
Paula Sullenger is the Associate Dean for information Resources and Associate Professor at Texas A&M Libraries. Sullenger is a member of the FOLIO Community and is a current member of the FOLIO Product Council and multiple special Interest groups.
The Open Library Foundation was created in 2016 as an unbiased, independent not-for-profit organization to ensure the availability, accessibility and sustainability of open source projects for and by libraries. Software developed by communities hosted by the Foundation is freely available under common open source licenses for personal, institutional or commercial use. The software is open and free in order to sustain an open collaboration of interested parties. The Foundation provides infrastructure by which the library community at large can organize, contribute to, and benefit from our projects — ensuring availability and a “safe haven” for member communities’ output that is separated from the needs and goals of any single contributor, user or affiliated party.
