Camden County Freeholder Named 2015 Library Champion

The New Jersey Library Association recognized Camden County Freeholder Ian Leonard as a 2015 Library Champion.

Camden County Library Director Linda Devlin nominated Leonard for the award, which recognizes “outstanding individuals who seek the partnership of their library for the purpose of bringing good to the community.”

“Freeholder Leonard is passionate about literacy and helping those in need, and he wants to make a difference in the city where he lives, Camden, NJ,” Devlin said in her nomination letter. “During the past year, he was instrumental in the implementation of free reading classes for adults at the Nilsa Cruz-Perez branch library in Camden. He was also the driving force behind the construction of this branch, which was opened on the Rutgers-Camden campus in 2012.”

“It’s not enough to say that reading is fundamental, we need to proactively go out to the community and provide a service that will advance literacy and strengthen our society and workforce,” said Leonard, who says too many Camden residents are unemployed or underemployed because they can’t read or have difficulty reading. “We know that literacy is critical to gaining employment and advancing education, and we also know that without it, life can be considerably harder and tougher to accomplish simple goals.”

According to Devlin, the free English as a Second Language course initiated by Leonard has 22 students, and there are six students in the Basic Literacy class, all of whom attend regularly.

The library also recently began offering free tutoring in basic math skills on a weekly basis at its Cruz-Perez Downtown and Voorhees branches.

Leonard was first appointed to the Board of Freeholders to fill a vacancy and was elected to his first full term in November 2009. He will retire from the seat in December 2015 when his second term expires.

The attached image of Ian Leonard was provided by Camden County officials.