Milan has five candidates for two open spots on the library board. Rod Hill, Peter Kentes, Cary Lieffers, Michelle K. Walters and Kelsey Winter have filed to run. As part of our 2025 election coverage, The Sun Times News invited all Library Board candidates to respond to the same set of questions. All candidates responded except Cary Lieffers. Answers are provided below.
How long have you lived in the Milan library district?
Rod Hill: We moved to Milan in October of 1978. We got our first library cards around November of the same year.
Peter Kentes: My wife and I have lived in Milan for ten years, and I teach in the Milan Area Schools District as a guest instructor.
Kelsey Winter: I have lived in Milan since August 2018.
Michelle Walters: Since 2019 – 6 years.
Why are you running and what about your experience best prepares you for this position?
Rod Hill: I stepped up in response to ongoing threats against facts and history of political hostility and online thievery, to help fill the shoes of two long-time, faithful servants, Randy Westbrooks and Tom Sorensen, who have retired after defending our library; its collections and its services, for many years.
As a professional communicator, I bring my career as an illustrator, a writer and a community activist, as tools for monitoring and gauging our library’s success in its various missions. And, as a retired member of Milan’s City Council and as a member of many City boards and commissions, I bring a deep understanding of Milan’s history and its many and various communities.
Peter Kentes: My mother was a lifelong elementary school teacher and reading specialist who taught private reading lessons in our home. I saw the benefit of literacy from a young age. I followed her example with a Bachelor’s Degree and 1972 State of Michigan Teacher Certification in English Language and American Literature.
Michelle Walters: I have engaged as a candidate in this election for several reasons. Libraries, schools, and parks are a treasure and core foundation of communities and I believe that we must do what we can to ensure they are supported in a way that provides accessibility for all who wish to utilize them.
Professionally I have served as an executive director for both small and mid-sized nonprofits serving individuals and families across the lifespan – a community center, assisted living facility, early childhood agency, and a child abuse prevention agency to name a few. I have a great deal of experience in grant research and writing, fundraising, as well as community organizing. Personally, I have served in various capacities on a school board, youth substance abuse prevention community collaboratives, and several school/youth serving organizations and workgroups.
This is also personal for me in that our children not only check out books and resources at Milan Library, they also attend book clubs, volunteer, participate in extra activities, and serve on the teen youth advisory council. Our kids love going to and hanging out with their friends in this safe space. The library is like a second home for our kids. Working remotely, I am able to utilize the space for work when I need a change of scenery. I appreciate the staff and the wonderful people I’ve met from our community.
I want to do my part to ensure this treasure continues to serve our community for generations to come.
Kelsey Winter: I am running because the library was one of the first places to welcome my family when we moved to Milan. Through their various events, most importantly the children’s book clubs, we began to put down roots and feel connected to the community here. The library holds a special place in my heart, and I want to serve our town as part of the board.
I have recently been appointed to serve on the Board of Trustees in an interim position for the remainder of 2025, and I’m looking forward to serving our community and gaining valuable experience in this role. I am also a former history major and have a deep appreciation for the importance of a library within a community.
What are the greatest strengths you see in the Milan library? What would you like to be changed?
Rod Hill: Our biggest strength is the consistently high quality of our library staff and leadership. Milan somehow manages; generation after generation, to find directors and librarians of exceptional caliber that can optimize what we have to meet our citizen’s various needs. Another strength is our location, within the municipal campus and the beautiful setting along the river. From this point, it is easily accessible to most of our neighborhoods and to downtown.
The largest change I would push for is expansion of our hours of operation, even to a seven-day model, and for us to provide additional facilities for teaching and managing advancing technologies as they come online. For my own part, I’d like to see the library double its footprint to be able to offer a broader range of spaces and facilities for many more community-based services. That having been said, I understand that the current building is as big as it’s likely to be for the foreseeable future.
Peter Kentes: I think our professional staff is our greatest strength. Expanding facilities such as utilizing our outdoor space or mobile satellite branches might be worth exploring.
Michelle Walters: First and foremost the greatest strength is the staff. They are wonderful to talk with, resourceful, and always willing to help with whatever you need. The second is the connection the library has to the residents where individuals have shared their personal treasures and resources (seeds, monthly displays, personal talents, etc.). The library is also able to access MeLCat and other online tools that increase the accessibility for all our residents.
One improvement we need to look at is our onsite technology. Computer updates are necessary so they have adequate security and functionality. Another opportunity further down the road, is to expand the space in whatever way the community sees it needs and can support.
Kelsey Winter: The greatest strength of the Milan Public Library is the dedicated staff who work tirelessly to improve the library and keep it relevant and useful in our modern world. They provide a welcoming environment for the people of Milan and I hope to build on their passion for the library by working towards improvements in the facility and potentially a greater variety of community groups bringing people together to build on shared interests.
How well is our library meeting the needs of our diverse community, including students, seniors, job seekers, and families, and what more, if anything, needs to be done?
Rod Hill: I think that in general our library’s heart is in the right place, providing what we can with what we have. I’m sure that our technology is probably struggling to keep up with those changing realities and that is an ongoing struggle. Regarding our engagement programs, we don’t have near enough space to expand the tutoring and employment assistance programs that we could have. As for expanding family-focused opportunities, we would likely have to access other City facilities and for that we would need more staff.
Peter Kentes: I think our staff does an admirable job of reaching out to members of our diverse community. More could be done to target specific niches with special programs of interest using community resources such as community members willing to share specialized knowledge and experiences for library programming.
Michelle Walters: Through conversations with residents, friends, and other users of the space, the Milan Library does a fantastic job meeting their needs and gaining access to resources. As I stated above, there is a need to update technology to ensure the online access is secure and adequate. I would like to see if we could improve private spaces within the library for tutoring, residents working remotely, or for other purposes.
Kelsey Winter: I think our library is doing an excellent job of meeting the diverse needs of our community but there is always room for improvement, growth, and innovation. For example, we could continue to expand the availability of items in our Library of Things, which provides household and craft items for loan. We could also hold resume writing workshops or mock interviews to help people build their skills in an ever changing job market. Another option is to set up a community time bank where people can both give and ask for gifts of time to help with odd jobs or specific needs. There are so many creative ways our library can continue to grow to better support our town.
How important do you find access to digital resources and interlibrary loan programs, including MeLCat?
Rod Hill: I use the Library’s interlibrary loan programs constantly. Thankfully, my own home access is adequate for most of my needs but when I need them, the Library staff has always been there for me. Their assistance with MeLCat connects me to a collection of almost unlimited reach for valued information and engagement.
I understand that my needs are not the same as many of our library patrons. That’s why providing that same access to all of our neighbors is a chief goal and mission for our library. That is why I’m committed to ensuring that the Milan Public Library continues to be one of the most important assets that Milan has.
Peter Kentes: Due to limited shelf space and constant additions of new material, MeLCat is vital to library functions. I am a constant user of this service for my reading pleasure. Our professional staff offers knowledgeable guidance when researching available information to digital resources and interlibrary loan programs, including MeLCat?
Michelle Walters: The digital access to these resources has been significant not only for our family but for those of my neighbors and friends. For example, our community has several individuals and families that choose to homeschool and this increased access has been vital to their course development and implementation. This broad access has also been helpful for individuals conducting research or needing resources that our library is not able to afford to purchase. This accessibility allows them to borrow from another library that has the financial means to own said materials.
Kelsey Winter: Access to digital resources and interlibrary loans programs are vitally important to the Milan Public Library, giving our relatively small program the reach and depth of a much larger library system. However, many of these resources are at risk after the recent executive order calling for the defunding of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). If this should happen, it would have a significant impact on our library and the board will need to step up to the challenge to continue to meet the needs of Milan.
Find more election information at the following links:
- Election Overview
- Milan Mayor Race
- Monroe County Commission, District #2 Race
- WISD millage.
- Candidates’ answers to questions posed by the League of Women’s Voters have been posted at: https://www.vote411.org/ballot.
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