BDL Board of Trustees
Check upcoming dates on the Event Calendar. Note: The November meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 22nd.
Board Member Profiles
Jim Muzzin | Board President
- Jim Muzzin was elected to City Council for the City of Brighton in 2003. He was appointed Mayor of the City of Brighton in 2011. Jim also serves on the Downtown Development Authority for the City of Brighton. Jim has been married for over 30 years and has 2 adult children.
Jordan Genso | Board Vice President
- Jordan Genso is a local Realtor who has been involved in the Brighton community since 2008. He was first elected to serve as a library trustee in 2016. He is on the Brighton Zoning Board of Appeals, and previously served as the board president for FlexTech High School. Jordan lives in the city with his wife Lesa and their two daughters, Cora and Stella.
Kathryn Poppy Wagner | Board Treasurer
Kathryn Poppy Wagner joined the Board of Trustees in February 2014. A two-term President of the Board, Kathryn holds degrees in English education and journalism with an emphasis on psychology followed by years in business management. Kathryn has worked professionally for the University of Michigan and the University of Florida and was schooled by both a top-five college program in one of our nation’s largest public universities and by a private Christian university.
Her work with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the headquarters of Sister Cities International has reached all legislative offices at the U.S. Capitol. Locally, she is honored by the City of Brighton with a Mayoral Proclamation for Outstanding Leadership. For several years, Kathryn served on the Board of Directors for Love INC of the Greater Livingston Area. Additionally, her local contributions include the inaugural committee for Le Concours de Livingston, the executive committee for the City of Brighton’s 150th Year Celebration, and chairing the special committee which hired the Brighton Library Director.
Kathryn states, “Our community library is a central hub and a sturdy place to generate local solutions to all manner of problems. It connects us to each other, to tech, to local institutions, to millions of books, and to powerful databases not otherwise widely available. As a flagship for people’s lives, the library delivers far-reaching vision and long and prosperous living into our community. I am honored to be present in this effort.”
Kathryn and her husband, Dr. Terrance Wagner, share three children born in Michigan. With their Michigan heritage reaching back as far as 175 years, resources like The Brighton Room (our library’s genealogical core) are broadly meaningful in the life of their family.
Caitlyn Perry Dial, Ph.D. | Board Secretary
Caitlyn Perry Dial is Assistant Director of Development at MSU College of Veterinary Medicine and formerly the Executive Director of Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame. For over fifteen years, Dr. Dial has worked in small museums and organizations across the state of Michigan, working directly with the public as an educator, curator, collections manager, and fundraiser.
Dr. Dial received her PhD in Public History at Western Michigan University. Her dissertation, about the Eastland Disaster, studies how personal memories of survivors, victims, and rescuers, have the ability to inform public memory several decades after a traumatic event occurs. She received her MA in History from Wayne State University where she wrote her Masters thesis on the labor of female sailors during the 18th century. She is also a proud Michigan State Spartan.
Dr. Dial serves as Secretary for the Michigan Museums Association and Vice Chair for the Brighton Zoning Board of Appeals. She also serves as an alumni advisory committee member for the WMU and Wayne State University Departments of History.
Dr. Dial lives in Brighton with her husband Phil, two sons, Elliott and Theodore, and rescue pup, Boomer.
Patrick A. McDonald | Board Trustee
Patrick A. McDonald graduated magna cum laude from University of Detroit Law School in 1961, and received a Masters of Law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1962 in the E. Barrett Prettymen trial program in the District of Columbia. He served as a captain in the U. S. Air Force as a Staff Judge Advocate in France (1962 to 1965).
Mr. McDonald has served as an arbitrator since 1976 and is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, National Labor Panel, American Arbitration Association, and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, as well as the Fact Finders Panel of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission for the State of Michigan. Pat serves on numerous permanent panels for employers and unions. His other primary area of practice includes estate planning and probate law.
He served as an adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Detroit Mercy Law School from 1965 to 2002 and Ave Maria Law School from 2002 to 2009.
He is affiliated with the following organizations: President and CEO, Mt. Elliott Cemetery Association; director and past chairman, Board of Directors, Delta Dental Plan of Michigan and Ohio; former member, Board of Trustees, Siena Heights University, Adrian, Michigan; member, Board of Directors, past chair and present member, Board of Directors, Guest House; member, President’s Cabinet and Executive Board, University of Detroit Mercy; member, American, Michigan, Detroit and Federal Bar Associations; past commissioner, State Bar of Michigan; past president and member of the Detroit Board of Education (1966-1976); past president, Michigan Soccer Commission; former director, Providence Hospital and Brighton Hospital.
Over the years, Mr. McDonald has received numerous honors and awards, including being a member of the University of Detroit Mercy Sports Hall of Fame, Outstanding Young Man of Detroit and Michigan, and Who’s Who in America. He was among the first to be ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Roman Catholic Church in 1972 (40 years) and has authored numerous articles for publication. Admitted to practice in Michigan, Colorado, and the District of Columbia. Mr. McDonald is the author of the Magnet Plan for Schools which has been adopted in the majority of School Districts in the United States.
Arla McPeek | Board Trustee
- When Arla McPeek and her family were considering moving to Brighton in 2002, one of the first places they investigated was the Brighton District Library. That’s because they consider a well-equipped library with plenty of high-quality programming to be an essential part of a strong community.
McPeek brings a variety of professional experiences to her position as trustee. She enjoyed a long career in technology as well as several years as assistant features editor at the Livingston Daily Press & Argus, where books and library activities were always among her favorite things to write about.
Jane Petrie | Board Trustee
- Jane Petrie She graduated from Indiana University with a BA in chemistry and a MS in education. She taught high school and middle school math and science for several years. She has been part of the Brighton community since 1971 and owned Poor Richard’s Book Shoppe in downtown Brighton from 1984-1991. She is married with four daughters and three grandsons. She looks forward in continuing to serve the library community.
Board Meeting Minutes
2020
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2019
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