RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon is retiring as Chief Executive Officer and Commissioner of the Chicago Public Library, one of the largest urban public libraries in the world, after seven years of dedicated and distinguished service; and
WHEREAS, the Chicago City Council has been informed of his departure by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Pacific Lutheran College University in 1997 and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington Information School; and
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a 2017 Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute in Washington D.C.; and
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon began his career with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a Curriculum Developer/Technology Trainer where he helped provide public Internet access by leveraging public libraries in the U.S., and then globally; and
WHEREAS, as the Technology Instruction and Branch Manager for the Seattle Public Library, Brian Bannon oversaw the design and delivery of technology instruction and managed the design and launch of three new branches; and
WHEREAS, in September 2006, Brian Bannon joined the San Francisco Public Library as the Chief of Branches, where, over the next five-and-one-half years, he spearheaded a $200-million-dollar capital improvement program resulting in the opening of twenty-four new and renovated branch locations across the city; it's success measured by a forty-percent increase in patron usage; and
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon received appointment from former Mayor Rahm Emanuel to serve as Chief Executive Officer and Library Commissioner in March 2012; and
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon managed a $130 million-dollar annual budget, 1,000 employees servicing seventy-seven retail sites, two regional hubs, and the 750,000-square-foot Harold Washington Library, the central facility of the City of Chicago library system; and
WHEREAS, Brian Bannon s...
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