Mary Jane Dawson retires from library board after 12 years

The Dec. 13 regular meeting of the Belleville Area District Library Board was the last meeting for board vice-chairperson Mary Jane Dawson, who had been on the board since its beginning 12 years ago and worked for a district library long before that.
Dawson did not run for reelection in November and at the Jan. 10 regular board meeting Daniel Fleming will be sworn in for the seat she vacated.
At the Dec. 13 meeting, Dawson’s husband Rick Dawson said he has attended only two library board meetings. He attended his wife’s first meeting and now he was attending her last board meeting.
Before the regular meeting, board members held a reception for Dawson and she was presented with some gifts including two paintings by library reference assistant Noelle Douglas.
In her report to the board, Library Director Mary Jo Suchy had some comments about Dawson: “In speaking with Mary Jane the other week, I told her that it had truly not sunk in yet that she would be leaving the board. She has been here for all the major milestones of our district library and all of us will be standing on her shoulders for many years to come. MJ, thank you for all of your efforts, time, talent, and support over the past 12 years.”
At the end of the meeting, Dawson said, “It has been an education, a trip, an exciting experience being on this board… Even if I’m just driving by, I can look at the library and say that was something we did for this community … and it made a big difference to the community.
“Dan will be a wonderful addition to this board. He comes from good stock. I know his parents.”
Board chairperson Sharon Peters said they talked to Dawson’s husband about what to get her for a going-away gift and he said, “She loves the library.”
So, in her bag of remembrances, they included a small painting of the library and a painting of Dawson and her husband, painted from a photograph in the library files.