Two candidates have dropped out of the race for the La Grange Library Board, leaving just three candidates for four openings on the board.
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Suzanne Stegeman opted out of the race because she is moving to Aurora.
But Marie Newman, who works as a marketing professional, said she dropped out to explore challenging U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski in the Democratic primary next year for the 3rd Congressional District. Lipinski, a Western Springs resident, has held the seat since 2005.
If she decides to run for Congress, Newman said she wants to focus on access to healthcare, climate change, women’s healthcare and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex rights.
She began mulling the race after the 2016 presidential election and participating in the Women’s March in Chicago. She was wondering what she could do to advance the issues she believes in.
“I asked myself, what can I do about it? The answer might be right here in our own backyard: The 3rd District,” she said.
She has set up a website, is seeking donations, and has an exploratory committee.
The other candidates for the library board are Joyce Hagen-McIntosh, Thomas J. Krueger and Becky Siegel Spratford.
Spratford, who is a librarian, is seeking her fifth term on the library board. She has said she wants to be re-elected to continue work on the library strategic plan. She also wants to increase community engagement and awareness of the library and make the building more welcoming.
“We want to make the library more friendly to the community while staying within the budget,” she said.
The lobby, for instance, could be made more open, she said.
Hagen-McIntosh has lived in La Grange for six years. She said she’s running because she feels like this board is the best fit for her to be civically involved in La Grange. She is a librarian, but she also enjoys being a library patron and working with nonprofits.
She wants to make the library more accessible and wants trustees to be approachable. She would like to see the library be a place where moms walk for coffee instead of Starbucks.
Krueger has lived in La Grange for 30 years. He is an enforcement attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has two grown children, and said he wants to give back and thank the library for what it has meant for him and his family.
He has said that technology and information will be areas of focus, and that he wants to provide new technologies in formats that the community needs and find the right mix of resources to help people use technology.
Since there are not enough candidates to fill all four openings on the board, the new board, once assembled, will appoint a person to fill the vacancy, said Jeannie Dilger, executive director.
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