Recording in progress.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I am Matt Freuman, Ward 3 Councilmember and Chairperson of the Committee on Human Services.

Today is Thursday, March 12th, 2026.

We are meeting in person in room 412 of the John A.

Wilson Building and virtually via Zoom.

The time is now 2 08 p.m.

Today we are conducting a public oversight roundtable to consider one reappointment resolution and two confirmation resolutions for new appointees to the District of Columbia Board of Library Trustees.

PR 26-0488, the Board of Library Trustees, Donella Brockington Confirmation Resolution of 2025, the matter of the nomination of Holly Flood to the Board of Library Trustees, and the matter of the nomination of Christie Whitfield to the Board of Library Trustees.

The District of Columbia Public Library was established as an independent agency in 1896 by an Act of Congress.

Congress also created a Board of Library Trustees to develop policy for the library.

The board consists of nine unpaid residents who are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the council, as well as Director Reyes Gobalon, who serves as a nonvoting ex officio member of the board of trustees of the board.

Trustees serve a five-year term and are limited to a maximum of two terms.

There are currently five members of the board, and there are an outstanding four vacancies.

The work of the library trustees supports the maintenance of our 26 libraries, relevant programming that facilitates lifelong learning and efficient use of public funds that support our library system.

I am grateful for the service of our library trustees.

I look forward to getting to know the nominees better today.

I'd now like to offer a note on logistics.

We will move on to our nominee's testimony with just one note on logistics.

Should any of my fellow colleagues council members join us, they will have 10 minutes each to ask a round of questions, and I will generally turn to my colleagues in the order they arrive.

We will now move to our nominees, starting with Ms.

Brockington.

Ms.

Brockington, I invite you to turn on your camera.

Ah, wonderful.

I see you now.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Chairman, Chairperson Fruman and members of the committee.

Oh, just one moment.

I'm sorry.

We start with it is it's the practice of this committee to swear again.

Yeah, yeah, to place our nominees under oath.

So if you'd please, I love your eagerness to get to your testimony, but let's just do this step first.

Please raise your right hand and state your name.

Dunella Brockington.

Do you swear or affirm under penalty of law that the testimony you are about to provide to the Committee on Human Services is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I do.

Wonderful.

Okay.

Thank you, Ms.

Brockington.

And you now may begin your testimony.

Well, thank you once again.

Good afternoon, Chairperson Fruman and members of the committee and staff.

I'm Donella Brockington, and it is my pleasure to receive your consideration for my nomination to serve on the Board of Library Trustees.

I'm grateful to Mayor Muriel Bowser for nominating me and honored to have this opportunity to serve the residents of my hometown, the District of Columbia.

When I was first appointed in January 2021, the DC Public Library was at a pivotal moment navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic while reopening the modernized Martin Luther King Jr.

Memorial Library.

It was a time that required resilience, creativity, and collaboration, and I'm proud of the progress we've made together together over the past five years.

During my first term, I worked closely with my fellow trustees and library leadership to advance the library's mission and deliver meaningful results for district residents.

The accomplishments I'm most proud of are opening the Lamont Riggs Lillian Huff Library in June 2022, providing a modern welcoming space for our community, distributing 10,000 devices through the ARPA device to residence program in the summer of 2020 2022, helping bridge the digital divide during a critical time, launching a new library website in 2023 to improve access and user experience, hosting major cultural exhibitions, including Leonardo da Vinci in 2023, Alma Thomas Let This World Be Beautiful in 2024, and the Negro Motorist Green Book in 2024 and 2025, all of which brought world-class programming to our residents, leading the library's post-pandemic rebound with 20 FY24 Q4 gate counts surpassing 900,000, which is the highest we've had since fiscal year 19, and many usage metrics such as digital digital circulation, database access, Wi-Fi usage, and study room bookings now exceeding pre-pandemic levels, celebrating the library's receipt of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service in 2024, a testament to our commitment to excellence and community impact, and finally advancing major capital projects, including the ongoing Southeast Library modernization, and updating the facility's master plan in February 2025 to guide future investments.

In addition to supporting these achievements, I have taken an active leadership role on the board.

I've served as chair of both the finance committee and the contracts review committee, and I have served as the primary liaison to the DC Public Library Foundation.

In these roles, I've worked to strengthen governance, align priorities, and foster collaboration between the library, the foundation, and friends groups.

Beyond governance, I've actively participated in library programs and events as a board member, ensuring that our work remains connected to the communities we serve.

I remain deeply committed to the mission of the DC Public Library to provide equitable access to information, ideas, and opportunities that enrich lives and strengthen our city.

If reappointed, I will continue to be to bring thoughtful leadership, strategic insight, and a collaborative spirit to help guide the library through its next chapter of growth and innovation.

Thank you, Chairperson Fruman, for the opportunity to testify before the committee, and I would be happy to respond to questions from you and the members.

Thank you very much, Ms.

Brockington, and uh thank you for your service.

And we're all proud of what the library has been able to accomplish in recent years, so very grateful.

I'm going to start with what I hope is an easy one because increasingly council members are asking this at the time of the vote, but um do you have a DC public library card?

I I do indeed.

I do indeed.

It is active.

That's uh that's an important one.

Um how frequently would you say you visit the libraries?

Um let's see.

I well, if you count board meetings, I I'm in a library at least once a month.

Great.

And what's your neighborhood library?

I think you I think it's the it's the um Lamon Riggs Lillian J.

Huff Library.

Ah, wonderful.

Which is why I have such a an affinity for the fact that you know we have a new modern library, finally.

Uh congratulations.

And what was the last book or ebook that you checked out as far as you can recall?

Geez.

I haven't checked out a book in a while.

Um I've been buying books lately.

Um let's see.

I I actually can't recall.

Uh yeah, I'm a I too am a book buyer.

My wife is a serial library borrower.

Uh anyways.

Uh can you share with me how your professional and per personal experiences have prepared you to continue your responsibilities as a trustee.

Um let's see.

Well, primarily I uh in two ways.

Um first of all, I I continue to work with uh a couple of youth serving organiz a few actually, youth serving organizations.

And so um the work that I do with with each of these um organizations, and they're they're all nonprofits, um informs my uh concerns about providing access in a way that is attractive and engaging with our young people.

And then professionally, uh I've been retired for a few years, but I had um a lot of experience working with governments around the country in procurement and and contract negotiations and um and looking at budgets and and actually uh creating budgets and and managing budgets.

And so um I think that experience certainly um helps prepare me for the roles I have had and continue to have with the library.

Uh thank you for that.

When you I think you talked about things that you feel like are accomplishments in your testimony, accomplishments of you on the Board of Trustees and of the library generally, and maybe you you speak to at least one priority, which is engagement with youth.

But what are your what are your other priorities that you would bring to the table in a second term on the board?

Well, we've had wonderful programming, especially at uh Martin Luther King, and uh it is certainly all of our con all of all of the trustees' interests, but um as of native Washingtonian, probably one of my priorities is to ensure that the level of um engagement with special events doesn't stop at our our our wonderful Martin Luther King library, but that it spreads to the branches and that people don't believe that they have to come downtown or leave their neighborhoods to experience some of the wonderful things that we've been able to bring to MLK.

I am really glad to hear that.

I mean, I think it's it's a classic, I mean there are budget constraints, but it's a classic yes and we want to have great uh programs at MLK, but we also want to get them out into the community.

And we're doing that to some extent.

Um we'd just like to do more.

Yeah, and when you look at the data for library usage, it it varies in different places.

And and so if there are things that we can do to light up buildings that get less traffic and get people in, strikes me that there's a dual benefit.

There's the program itself and there's reacclimating folks to the fact of their neighborhood library.

Um you were the chair for two different committees on the board, the finance committee and the contracts and review committee.

Are you planning on being on either of those committees going forward if you are confirmed again?

Well, I continue uh in my current capacity as as a current trustee, I do still chair the committee on finance.

Um I am a member of the Contracts Review Committee.

Um I certainly continu I if if reconfirmed, I would continue both.

You would continue both.

And what do you think are the priorities and accomplishments on the finance committee?

Uh managing a budget that sometimes has uh uh complexities that neither the city nor the DC public library control.

Um we we we sometimes are are faced with uh changes at and given the timing of those changes, um it makes us difficult to it makes it more difficult to actually um in some cases uh spend the the dollars that we have allocated because of stops and starts.

complexities that neither the city nor the DC public library control um you know we we we sometimes are are faced with uh changes at and given the timing of those changes um it makes us difficult to it makes it more difficult to actually um in some cases uh spend the the the dollars that we have allocated uh because of stops and starts uh not all of which are uh are under any of our control I mean there have been some stuff some things in the last year where we've lost money that we were counting on and then is your point that you need to figure out how to navigate through that so we get to the back end without cutting services that's true I mean we we're hiring and uh we continue to hire and we are um ever hopeful that we fill vacancies and that we are able to onboard people but sometimes uh you know in the budget process that you know we have to we have to pivot and then what about on the on the contracts review committee what do you think of as your the highlights or priorities or maybe maybe it's just you know the day-to-day work of review speak to me about what how you view your role on that committee and what are the priorities and accomplishments well we see the packages that come to the council before you do so um uh you're you're we are um the the committee is responsible for reviewing the documents ensuring that um number one they're all complete uh but also that uh they're consistent with the um the plans that we have uh and in most in many cases they are construction related um and uh and also one of the one of the major things is making sure that uh any vendor is meeting its current obligations if if they are not a new vendor but that and if they are a new vendor that they have committed to meet all of their um all of the obligations of the contract and particularly engaging with small local businesses thank you um you talked about some of the turbulence in the last year but I wonder I mean what what do you see as the greatest obstacles and opportunities for the library in the coming year well there in some cases similar um we have one and I I'm blanking on the name of the category but there is a budget item that essentially um is revenue that is generated from events and as we all know there have been a number of events at MLK that the public uses and actually pays for and that fund has grown because interest in using our wonderful facility has grown and we struggle at sometimes to actually estimate the amount of revenue that will be generated and hence to budget to spend that revenue in you know in the fiscal year.

And I it's ongoing but we're getting better at it because we've had more experience with um with events planning and events management throughout the system.

Is this a good problem in that we've underestimated and had more money or a bad problem in that we've overestimated the revenue and had less and then had to we've not overestimated we've underestimated we've been very conservative because we didn't have very much experience.

We have more experience now and um and we're better at it the the it's a juggle because you want to be able to estimate and also plan programming that spends down that money you don't want to have that money swept you don't want to have it swept and you don't want to have it left over and available to be swept it you know the purpose of having uh assessing fees for for our our facilities is to be able to support programming and we want to make sure that we're actually able to use that for the purpose we intended it thank you.

We heard a number of concerns being raised during both public and government testimony during the performance oversight hearing for fiscal year 2025 including the increasing costs of and demand for electronic materials declining physical circulation and increasing construction costs for modernizations and renovations.

Well, the um the cost of digital digital materials is an issue for libraries across the country.

And so we are working and looking at what other library systems are doing, and I believe there is legislation, or at least if I'm not mistaken.

There's definitely legislation.

But that continues to be a challenge, and and we're we're collaborating with libraries around the country to try to figure that out and to be able to use uh our collective power to potentially be able to navigate better terms.

Okay.

You noted in your questionnaire responses that while you are retired, you're currently serve as the director of document systems Inc., a document management service that works with several district agencies.

How long have you been the director for them?

Uh I'm not I'm on the board of directors.

Oh, I see.

Yes.

Yeah, not a director.

I'm one of a handful, there are six of us who are serving at um as the board of directors for this small local business.

And I've I've been um I believe it's five coming up on five years.

Five years?

Yes.

And and what are your responsibilities then?

I mean, we're essentially helping to direct um or to provide some direction for the company as to you know where it should be focusing its resources.

Um it is small.

Um they have grown to it's a family-owned business, and so they've evolved.

Um but they to their credit or dismay.

They decided that they would have a board of directors who could help them think more broadly about you know which direction they should be going, whether they should expand into other kinds of services or products.

And uh we have been providing some guidance in that regard.

And also to put some governance structure around the small business that is not as small as it used to be.

Um have you found that there's been any kind of conflict between the demands on your time to do that work as a as a member of the board of directors and your work as a library board trustee?

No, it hasn't.

And it's not it's not a secret.

It shows up in a number of different places.

You you talk about your work with this entity, but I don't think it's listed on your affiliations.

Is that uh is there a reason for that?

It should be listed.

I mean, I on which list of affiliations.

I mean it's not it's not listed on your resume as an affiliation.

Oh, okay.

I you know I'm not sure why that is.

We're just proving that we read everything.

I appreciate that you have been diligent.

Uh I mean and it's like I said, it's not like it's a thing that's that's hidden that you've been very clear about it.

Um on your financial, your most recent financial disclosure, you listed three organizations on whose boards you other organizations on whose boards you fit said, the Posse Foundation, Clark University, and the Recreation Wish List Committee.

Have you found the demands of your responsibility as a member of these other organizations boards compete with your work as a library board trustee?

They have not.

I mean, I think some of that is the beauty of being retired, but they they have not.

Okay.

Do you anticipate any other significant changes between the last financial disclosure you filed and your next filing?

I don't.

Um Have you had to recuse yourself from any subject matter in front of the Library Board of Trustees?

Not today.

Not today.

No.

And do you have any interest financial or otherwise that may directly or indirectly pose a conflict of interest in the performance of your duties as a trustee?

I do not.

All right.

Well, thank you for your service to the library and for your time today, Ms.

Brockington.

That will wrap up our conversation for the day, and I will move on to our second nominee.

But thank you very much for your for your time.

Thank you for the opportunity.

I look forward to being reappointed.

Or confirmed.

If there's anything else you'd like to add, you should feel free, but otherwise we'll move on to Ms.

Flood.

Sorry, thank you.

Thank you.

All right, Ms.

Flood, I invite you to come to the table in front of me.

Doesn't matter.

And you benefit because you've heard all the questions.

So it is the practice of this committee to place our nominees under oath.

Please raise your right hand and state your name.

Oh, you need to push the button.

Sorry.

Yeah, there you go.

My name is Holly Flood.

And do you swear or affirm under penalty of law that the testimony you are about to provide to the Committee on Human Services is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I do.

Okay.

You may begin your testimony.

Good afternoon, Chairperson Freeman, members of the committee and staff.

My name is Holly Flood, and it is my pleasure to receive your consideration from my nomination to serve on the DC Library Board of Trustees.

I am grateful to Mayor Muriel E.

Bowser for nominating me and honored to have this opportunity to serve the residents of our district.

I'll start by telling you a little bit about myself.

First, I am proud to say that I am a native Washingtonian and DC public school alum.

I was born and grew up in Ward 3, attended John Eaton Elementary School, and graduated as valedictorian from Duke Ellington High School, where I majored in music.

I'm also a graduate of Catholic University, where I received my BA in English, and of George Washington University, where I received my master's in international affairs.

After spending two years in Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1990s, where I learned Spanish and Guarani, I spent several months assisting Cuban migrants detained on U.S.

military bases, followed by several years resettling newly arriving refugees and migrants from all parts of the world here in Washington and across the U.S.

Those experiences led me to an international career during which I oversaw, designed, managed, and supported humanitarian response, international development, and social services programs of all sizes and levels of complexity.

Over the past 30 years, I've lived in Angola, where I learned basic Portuguese, Colombia, Kenya, Paraguay, Peru, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Turkey, and traveled to 50 plus countries.

During my career, I divided my time between DC-based headquarters roles that often involved extensive travel and periodic longer-term assignments abroad.

However, DC has always been home and where I maintain strong family and social connections.

I've lived in Adams Morgan in Ward 1 for most of my adult life and have been in my current residence since 2006.

Having decided to stay DC-based and minimize travel in order to better support an aging parent and spend more time here at home.

In January 2025, I was working as the director of proposal writing for BlueMont, a U.S.

aid contractor, when most of our work abruptly ended due to Doge-related cuts.

I was furloughed abruptly and indefinitely, as were most of my colleagues.

Service has always been important to me.

I grew up in a social activist church community, and my mother was a founder of Jubilee Housing, Jubilee Jobs, and several other DC nonprofits, where my siblings and I were regularly pressed into volunteer service.

As an adult, I spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Paraguay, where I learned Spanish and Guarani, and later served as an election observer in Paraguay, Peru, and Mozambique.

My community service here in DC has included tutoring high school students, helping job applicants prepare their resumes, reading and responding to poetry written by incarcerated people, and pole station work.

Currently I'm a volunteer long-term care ombudsman specialist through AARP's legal counsel for the elderly's office of the DC long-term care ombudsman.

I am also a community notary.

I decided to treat the end of my international career last year, not as a setback, but as an opportunity to make a professional shift from international to local service.

After being furloughed, I used my time to job hunt, often working from the library, and also to identify and pursue meaningful opportunities to give back that my pure previous work had not allowed time for.

During that time, I became certified as a notary and completed the required training to become a volunteer ombudsman specialist.

And in conversations with Ray Rich Reyes Gavilan, who is a neighbor and friend, I learned more about the work of the Board of Trustees and decided to apply.

I am an avid reader and longtime user and fan of the DC library system.

Growing up, I was a bookworm who devired devoured books.

I would check out stacks of them in our weekly visits to the Cleveland Park Library where my classmates and I also spent hours pouring through the world book encyclopedia, periodical archives, and other materials to prepare our school assignments before so many resources were available digitally.

As an adult, I continue to use the library to feed my reading habit with print, virtual, and audiobooks.

I've also visited our libraries to get tax forms and COVID tests, to cast my ballot, to work in a quiet, comfortable space, and to attend performances, exhibits, or events.

I am passionate about reading and view libraries to be an essential community and societal resource.

I am therefore thrilled to be considered to serve on the DC Libraries Board of Trustees.

I believe this opportunity aligns well with my professional background.

My extensive supervisory management experience, along with decades spent overseeing budgets and accountably administering government and foundation grants will position me to exercise strong stewardship.

My proven ability to adapt to new environments, lead teams and operations, and build networks and partnerships in challenging environments will help me engage constructively with colleagues and stakeholders with differing views and perspectives.

Reading and books have enriched my life immensely, as has my access to the DC library system.

I welcome the chance to serve on the Board of Trustees and be a part of making the library's offerings as appealing and accessible as possible to all DC residents.

If confirmed, I would look forward to being an enthusiastic advocate for books and reading, ensuring that our neighbors across the city are fully aware of and able to access the library's many services and benefits, and serving as an effective steward of steward of an advocate for library resources.

Thank you, Chairperson Fruman, for the opportunity to testify before this committee.

I would be happy to respond to questions from you and the members of the committee.

Thank you very much.

Actually, it's not subject for the hearing, but lots of overlaps.

I think I mentioned to you, my wife was a peak score volunteer and worked in the same sort of sector that you worked in in the in the international assistance space, election observing.

I I did a lot of that.

I wonder which organizations were you did.

Um I was with USAID when I did it in Paraguay, and I was with USAID when I did it in Peru.

And I was with USAID also when I did it in Mozambique.

So it was part of the sort of U.S.

Embassy's election observation missions.

I see.

With all the stacks of the magazines and newspapers, yeah.

Boy, that's never going to be again in the same way.

So uh but was fun at the time.

Well, let's start where I started with uh Ms.

Brockington.

It sounds like you do have a DC library card.

I do have a DC library card.

And you referred to, are you still visiting the library for I am still visiting the library?

And your neighborhood library is well, my neighborhood library would be Mount Pleasant.

Um but I end up going to Cleveland Park more, just I don't know, maybe because I'm grew up there.

Uh and can you recall your last book or ebook that she's I can.

Um so my well, I uh the last book that I checked out.

I always have an audio book going at all times.

So the last one I checked out from the DC libraries was called 1989 by Val McDermott.

I love murder mysteries.

Um the current one, um, DC doesn't have it, so I checked it out from Montgomery County Libraries, which is one of the benefits of this library system is that we have reciprocity.

So do you recall how long you had to wait?

Was this an e-book or was this a hard copy?

It was an audio book.

Yeah.

So and how long of a wait did you?

I did not wait at all for that particular one.

I I mean I basically browse the list to find stuff that was available right now.

So you talked about your professional experience and how do you see the your professional experience reinforcing the work that you will do as a trustee?

So my professional experience has focused a lot on stewardship and oversight of sort of sound management of budgets and contracts, as well as fundraising and business development and kind of finding those finding and getting connected to those, connecting organizations to those opportunities.

So I I feel like my background is actually quite a good fit you know with stuff that I've spent years doing.

And can what what how would you describe your priorities and accomplishments in your previous positions and all the international the work that you've done over time?

Talk to me about some of your what you see as highlights and what you had seen as goals during your work during that stuff.

Um so the work that I did internationally, um, a lot of my work focused on countries that were in some process of um post-conflict uh recovery or transition, whether that was recovery after the end of a war or a major election, or um you know some sort of humanitarian crisis.

Um working on Sudan and in Turkey I was working on the Syria, I was on the border with Syria.

Um so I think that that has my work has given me, and I worked primarily through the most of the programs that I worked on were funded primarily through uh small or medium-sized grants that we were giving out to local organizations.

Um and I think one of the things that I can take away from my career, first of all, I'm really proud of the way that we've been able that we programs I I worked on and led were able to support really important groups that were helping sort of keep spaces for dialogue and discussion and debate uh around policies and procedures and change open.

Um so whether that was supporting a group of mothers sitting over under a mango tree, we could do that, or a series of university debates.

Uh sometimes worked with libraries in other countries.

Um and I think that that is an appreciation that I bring I'm proud of the work that I did and an appreciation that I will bring to my work really it's partly why I'm I'm I'm so interested in this in this role because I really do fundamentally believe that libraries are a resource that sort of help keep can help keep space for civilized discussion and constructive discussion open in a in an environment where things can be very polarized and and emotional.

All right.

Thank thank you for that.

Of the five standing committees of the Board of Trustees, and which do you think you would be the most suited to serve based on your previous work experience?

And so I think the best fit um would pro best fits would probably be the finance and budget committee or the and or I don't know, the um programs partnerships and PPP programs partnerships and performance um committees.

Uh I I was worried you were going to turn back to me and ask for the list of the five.

So thank you.

Thank you for coming up with the third P.

And I guess the idea is that those given the oversight role that you played in your previous positions, you would those skills would be transferable to those committees.

Is that the idea?

I think so.

I think so.

So as a you haven't been I asked Ms.

Brockington about this and she's been on the board for a while.

You a longtime library user, so you bring a different perspective.

But what do you what do you see as the greatest obstacles and opportunities facing the libraries and our facilities next year and in the years to come?

Um well, I mean, I guess I would I would have to agree that um that resourcing is likely to be a critical challenge.

I mean, I think DC, I don't think it's a secret that we're it's going to be a very challenging budget process this year, and I think across the board there will be um some hard decisions that have to be made.

Um I think one of the things the board can play a role in is helping um helping foster the understanding that libraries are not a nice to have.

I think they are a must-have however that plays out in the budget.

Um I think you know, you're very familiar with the ebook costs and uh sort of I think helping find a way forward in terms of balancing the acquisitions collections budget between print, you know, the the types of resources that are purchased and contributing to the conversation as as as appropriate is important.

I, you know, as a as someone who mostly mostly uses virtual and I mean I prefer reading print books actually myself, but if I'm traveling or whatever, I often check out um ebooks or audiobooks.

But I also think that they are not as accessible to someone who doesn't have um good IT skills or someone who um doesn't have good vision or whatever.

So I think it's you know, finding the right balance between sort of all the formats that our communities want to use will be important.

Um I very much agree with what my predecessor said about events.

I think um I love all the I don't necessarily go to everything I want to, but I love how many events there are in the library system and programs, and I hope that there's a way uh to continue that even as resources shrink.

Um and I think as a as a member of the Board of Trustees, like one of the things that I would love to be a part of is sort of finding ways to continue to make those happen in uh in an area error era of um you know tightening our belts budgetarily.

Uh thank you for that.

I mean one of the things you you frequent the Cleveland Park Library, which is one of the most highly used in the system.

Mount Pleasant is actually also among the most highly used.

Um a question is how do we get the usage of libraries in all parts of the city up to those kinds of levels?

And I think you speak you've spoken to it a little, but you clearly the love of libraries uh is part of your growing up.

What kinds of things do you think we might be able to do, or how do you see your role on the Board of Trustees to try to have more kids who are like you have access to the libraries or s or capitalize on access to the libraries in the way that it could make a difference in your life for them?

So I mean it's such a good question.

It's such a hard question.

Um I think I think it's really important, and it's another thing I've just learned from my career is you can be most successful at getting people interested when you meet them where they are.

Um so it's not really enough to have these beautiful libraries that people sort of don't see them and they think they're really nice, but they're a little intimidated maybe to go in, or they just don't have familiarity with they don't they were not fortunate like I was to have parents who like drop me at the library every week for several hours to use it as a babysitter basically.

Um at the place where I work now, Christhouse.

So we are a medical respite facility for homeless people, homeless men.

Um and actually the Mount Pleasant library folks come periodically and talk to the patients about the library and help them apply for library cards.

And there's always a lot of enthusiasm around that.

So I think I think maybe figuring out ways to do more outreach outside of the library would be would be a good way to sort of get people into the library.

All right.

Well uh that um Christhouse is very familiar with Christhouse, what a great organization.

And you said your parents played uh your mother played a role in that.

My mother was a founder of Jubilee Housing and Jubilee Jobs.

So, you know, part of the Potter's House and all the a lot of the nonprofits there.

So she was not a founder of Christhouse, but she's everyone around.

Like I grew up in that community, and we spent a lot of time at all of them.

I mean, those are great institutions, so that's a thing to be very proud of.

Do you have any interest financial or otherwise that may directly or indirectly pose a conflict of interest in your performance of your duties as a trustee?

No.

Okay.

With that, uh thank you, Ms.

Flood.

Thank you.

That ends my questions for you today.

We'll now turn to our third nominee, Christy C.

Whitfield.

Do I need to turn this off?

Yeah.

Thank you.

Ms.

Whitfield, could you please turn on your camera so we can see you?

Ah, there you are.

Good to see you.

Good to see you again.

Yes.

We're moving at a good clip here, and it's gonna allow me to get out and go to a ribbon cutting.

Oh, great.

So that's an e that's the kind of event that I saw you at frequently.

So it is the practice of the committee to place our nominees under oath.

Please raise your right hand and state your name.

Christy Cunningham Whitfield.

You know, your volume is a little low.

Try that.

Christy Cunningham Whitfield?

Still a little bit low.

Oh gosh.

Um let me see if there's another something else I can push on.

We're checking on our end too.

Okay.

Yeah, it's now I'm not hearing you at all.

So that's a problem.

Okay.

Oh, now you're you're loud and clear.

All right.

Thank you very much.

So let's start over if you'd state your name.

Raise your hand and state your name.

Christy Cunningham Whitfield.

And do you swear or affirm under penalty of law that the testimony you are about to provide to the Committee on Human Services is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I do.

Okay, Ms.

Whitfield, you may begin your testimony.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Councilmember Fruman and members of the committee.

My name is Christy Cunningham Whitfield, and I am truly honored to be considered to join the DC Public Library Board of Trustees and grateful to our mayor, Mayor Muriel Bowser for nominating me for a role that touches the lives of so many district residents.

I currently serve as the Chief Impact Officer for the Nathan Cummings Foundation, where I lead the organization's efforts to advance equity and opportunities through strategic investment and partnership.

My work centers on connecting communities to resources that create lasting change, a mission that aligns deeply with the values of the DC public library system.

Prior to this role, I served as the director of the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development, DSLBD, where I had the distinct privilege of working directly with the library system as a partner in supporting the district's small business community.

In that capacity, I witnessed firsthand the remarkable potential of libraries to serve as engines of economic opportunity and community empowerment.

During my tenure at DSLBD, libraries were not just a backdrop, they were a critical component of our strategy to create accessible pathways for the small business community.

We held weekly open house sessions at local library branches for entrepreneurs who are interested in building or growing their businesses, providing them with tools, guidance, and connection to government resources in a space that felt welcoming and familiar.

We held pitch competitions that helped to showcase the tenacity and ingenuity of the small business community.

One of the highlights of my time at DSLBD was hosting our annual district connect conference at the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Library.

Bringing hundreds of small business owners, government agencies, and community partners together under the library's roof was a powerful reminder that libraries are so much more than repositories of books.

They are civic anchors, gathering places, and hubs of possibility.

On a personal level, my relationship with libraries is ongoing and joyful.

I spent countless hours after school at my local library doing homework, connecting with friends, doing old-fashioned research with microfiche.

I'm dating myself a little bit there.

I'm working to instill that same love of libraries in my own children.

We forage for books together, everything from manga to nature books, and the delight on their faces when they discover something new is irreplaceable.

We read together regularly, discussing characters and relating the issues they face to our own lives and lessons.

Our connection with our local library goes well beyond books.

Meeting friends and neighbors in the stacks of the Woodridge Library helps knit the community together, and the Hill Behind That Library has some of the best sledding in Ward 5.

The library has been a constant stabilizing presence, a place where imagination is ignited and curiosity is honored.

My desire to join the DC Public Library Board of Trustees is rooted in a single principle.

Every district resident, regardless of neighborhood, income, age, or background, deserves full access to what this library system offers.

As a trustee, I would bring that commitment to every decision I make.

As a trustee, I want to expand awareness and use of what the library has to offer.

Tools like Libby have been a lifeline for me personally, keeping me connected to the collection when I can't be there in person.

But many residents don't know these tools exist or how to use them.

I want to help close those gaps.

I also believe in the power of programming.

And I've seen it firsthand.

Taking my kids to a puzzle swap at our local branch and watching neighbors connect over simple things.

That's the library doing exactly what it should.

I want to build on that.

Workforce development, youth literacy, small business support, senior services, arts and culture, programs that meet people where they are.

Drawing on my experience at DSLBD.

I also hope to strengthen the library's role as a partner in economic opportunity, connecting residents to tools and networks they need to grow.

I know those partnerships work and I want to build more of them.

I also see libraries as essential to civic life.

A healthy democracy depends on an informed public.

And libraries are one of the few remaining places where every person, regardless of means, can access the information, perspectives, and resources needed to participate fully in our society.

Protecting that access is not just a library issue, it is a civic one.

Libraries are more than buildings with books.

They are hubs where communities form, where people come not just to borrow materials, but to evolve.

Thank you.

Well, thank you very much.

The first question, as you saw with the other uh nominees is do you have a library card?

Which seems pretty clear that you do, but still need to ask.

Yes.

I I have a library card.

I keep my library card and my children's library cards on my key ring.

Wonderful.

And you've spoken to how frequently you visit, and you said Woodbridge is your neighborhood library, so you've answered some of these questions.

I did not know about the Sledding Hill.

Yes.

I'm going to pocket that information.

Check that out.

Yep.

Can you recall what the last book or electronic material you checked out was?

So the last electron, I actually checked my Libby while we were looking at this.

So I checked out The City We Became by N.K.

Jemison, who's a science fiction writer that I'm really big fan of.

And then before that, I was reading the red badge of courage because that was the assignment for one of my sons, and I wanted to be an informed investigator into their homework.

Yeah, boy, been a while since I read that one.

It's been a minute, right?

Yeah.

Okay, I think you've talked about your professional experience and your priorities and accomplishments there.

What drew you to seek a nomination to the Board of Library Trustees?

A couple of things.

I think the value of the partnerships that we developed when I was the director of DSLBD really amplified and kind of broadened my view of what this rich resource was.

I experienced the library in a pretty traditional way growing up and through my life, but realizing that this is a you know a hub and a gateway for people in every aspect of their lives is really what you know what I really got excited about and the events that we held at the library, you know, were fantastic.

Um, you know, we ran programs at DSLBD for formerly incarcerated people that wanted to start a business.

The DSLBD office shares space with MPD.

And in a very practical way, some of our participants were less enthusiastic about coming into a government building that was you know crawling with police officers.

So the library gave us access and access points so that people could, you know, so we could meet people where they were.

I um I I I think that the libraries get taken for granted and and seeing the impact that that resource had was something that just really excited me.

All right, thank you for that.

Um have you thought about the different standing committees and which ones do you think could make the most sense for you or are you you think you might try to pursue?

I haven't given it a lot of thought, but I think that the program, the the PPP committee makes a lot of sense.

I you know, also given my previous role, I have an understanding of the complexities of procurement that might uh that might be lent to the to the board um uh in a in a valuable way.

I'm I'm pretty open um to where which committees that where I could be the most help.

And then as director of DSLBD, you had a fair amount of interaction.

What are the categories of the interaction that you had with the with the library in the Oh wow?

So we held office hours um at the main MLK library and in other um libraries around the city.

You know, I think something that I didn't talk about in my testimony, but I think speaks to a question that you were asking the the previous candidate about how do you get more people into the library.

You know, I'd like to think about just briefly mention the partnership that DSLBD had with the public library around Art All Night.

Um citywide party expressed in every corner of the city, including many library branches, gave people an opportunity to, you know, peek into their library, maybe not initially for books, but to get into a habit of realizing that there's cool stuff there.

Um I think that the concert that happens as part of Art All Night now at the MLK library on G Street has become a signature event, and I would guarantee you that people come for the concert and might stay for something else as they go into the branch and see the the vast resources that are there.

Um, you know, I think that holding events and having pitch competitions and doing business development in a place where everybody knows how to get made a difference.

It made a difference for the way that we could reach um constituents and also I think it made a difference for the library and helping them just show their you know their vast where all right, thank you for that.

I I had been uh chair for a period of Tenley Town Main Street and active on the Tenley Town Main Street board for years and Art O'Ne was one of those places where uh we were able to light up the Tenley Town Library, and I'm sure it has the impact that you're talking about.

And so thank thank you for your partnership then on those things and and for carrying that forward.

And as someone who's previously had held a leadership role in the district government and understands the difficulties agencies can encounter and it's the finances have only gotten more challenging since you left.

But um what do you see as the obstacles and opportunities facing the libraries and what suggestions can you offer?

You know, I think that we're seeing the impact of diminishing resources in so many, you know, in so many arenas of our lives.

But I I think that when we we creatively partner, you know, like that art all night activation, there are a lot of people that want to do different things, and those things are going to happen somewhere.

And if they happen in a library, that number one helps broaden that access, but it also might have some different revenue opportunities.

I think that you know, there are plenty of times where one plus one can't equal three, and that we have to just maybe think a little bit more creatively about the types of partnerships that the library is open to.

I was really excited at how open and interested in different types of partnerships that you know that DCPL was when I was at DSLBD.

I don't think everybody knows that that's a resource and that that's a place that they could host their meetings that they could bring people to.

So I think that you know, when we think about where we duplicating efforts, maybe we can sort of overlay services, co-locate them and you know, both drive foot traffic, but also share resources and save some resources.

As you as you embark on this, do you have goals?

I mean, it may be early.

It may be that the ideas you you join and you take stock and you formulate goals, but do you have things that are on your mind that you think, oh, I'd love to see the libraries do more of this or more of that, or uh go in go in one direction or another that you bring to the table as you would start this new role?

I'm I'm not a person that wants to sort of come in guns blazing, but yes, I do have ideas about you know how do we do more things like you know, how do we how do we bring more people into the library, either for reading, which is amazing and important, but also for other things.

So I don't have a program that I'm like, oh guys, we really have to do this thing.

But I think I think the lessons of DSLBD are rich as we think about how we want to continue to evolve the way that the library engages in, you know, in a very local and personal way with people.

Um you heard me ask others about this that we heard a number of concerns being raised during the public and government testimony during performance oversight hearings for fiscal year 25, including the increasing costs of and demand for electronic materials, declining physical circulation, and and attendance, especially at some neighborhood libraries, um and increasing construction costs for modernizations and renovations.

Do you have any thoughts?

You've spoken a little bit about attendance, the the ebook challenges may or may not be something that you're familiar with.

But do you have any thoughts about these challenges and the role the board should play in addressing them?

So listening to previous testimony, the one thought I had is I know I know that I have several books on hold at any given time because there are weights showing that there's you know a high demand there.

And I heard an earlier conversation about the fear of money being swept.

And so I think, you know, I think there's a gap that can be filled there.

If there was any money swept last year, I would say, like, gosh, couldn't we just buy more ebooks?

There's there's simple ways to get ahead.

And I think that you know, that board member was pretty articulate about the uncertainty of revenue from program income.

So I uh you know, I 100% understand that.

But I think I think that if we have a plan for the best and the worst case scenarios, if we say, oh gosh, if we do a thousand events and we have a million dollars, how would we spend it?

And then also, oh my goodness, if the HVAC goes out into libraries, what are we gonna do?

I think we have to have you know positive and negative contingencies running at any point in time, and then of course, decisions have to be made.

I um you know I don't have a sense of what those things are yet, not having to look in those books, but I know that the you know the system of you know two dozen plus libraries, you're gonna have lots of layers between staffing and facilities and resources, and you know money turns out to be a zero-sum game, unlike, you know, have hope and faith, but I think we can balance the pressures as we are aware of the situations and then just try to plan accordingly.

All right, thank you for that.

Um I'm not saying that you will be, but if you were advised to recuse yourself from any subject matter in front of the library board of trustees as it might relate to your previously held director position, would you?

Of course.

Um do you have any interest financial or otherwise that may directly or indirectly pose a conflict of interest in the performance of your duties as a trustee?

No.

All right.

Well um thank you, Ms.

Whitfield, for your service to our city and to our libraries and your time today.

Those are all the questions that I have today.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilmember, for your consideration.

It's been a pleasure talking with you.

Wonderful.

So this concludes today's public oversight round table.

If you plan on submitting written testimony for the record, please do so by uploading it to the Council's electronic hearing management system before the close of business on Thursday, March 19th.

The time is now 3.14 p.m.

And this round table is adjourned.

Thank you.

Recording stops the first time.