In January 2014, John was appointed to a 3-year term on the Ramsey County Library Board, the governing body for seven libraries located in suburban Ramsey County:
(Top row: James Berry; Tou Xiong; Kim Sundet Vanderwall, Chair; & Craig Klausing)(Bottom row: Jan Rapheal, Vice Chair; Paula Mielke; & John Hakes, Secretary)
Note: Prior to the library appointment, John served one year each on Ramsey County’s Capital Improvements Committee and Board of Appeal and Equalization.
In fulfillment of a 2008 Master Facilities Plan that called for reconstruction of both the White Bear Lake and Shoreview libaries, RCL & Knutson Construction first opened the doors to a new White Bear library facility in April of 2015. This project added 4,000 ft. of new space and nearly 13,000 ft. of renovated room at the White Bear branch.
For the Shoreview project, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners and Ramsey County Library Board approved plans for a new building by an HGA, Inc. & Adolfson & Peterson construction team in early 2015. On Sept. 8th, the Shoreview City Council officially adopted Ordinance No. 934, which approves the PUD Development Stage for a new Ramsey County Library in Shoreview.
A project groundbreaking (pictured below) took place on October 22nd at 2 p.m.
While voluntarily serving the library board, John has embraced every committee assignment suggested to him, including liaison to the Friends of the Ramsey County Libraries and a trio of committee assignments in the development of the new Shoreview library.
As the third library to possess a ‘regional’ status in the RCL system, the Shoreview library stands to serve several north suburban communities “across the generations” in a place with not only more square feet of space, but also one that expands hours and amount of programming for area patrons.
Largely due to the proliferation of information available via the Internet, some folks have legitimately raised the question of whether libraries remain relevant in our society.
The basis for John’s commitment to quality resources and spaces for public learning is most easily explained by the accompanying image.
John Hakes for Mounds View School Board '15 