An ordinance re-establishing a City of Aberdeen Library Board unanimously passed its first reading before the Aberdeen City Council Wednesday. During the public comment period, pleas for its passage came from the Aberdeen Friends of the Library and a former member of Aberdeen’s Library Board.

“As a past president of the Aberdeen Library Board I want to support the library board ordinance,” said Doug Zimmer, who was appointed to the board in 2015. “It is an important connection between library users and city government.”

William Carter, president of the Friends of the Aberdeen Library, also explained the importance of the establishment of a Library Board.

“It encourages transparency in how the library is funded,” he said. He also echoed Zimmer’s statement of the board as a liaison of sorts between library users and the city.

The ordinance will move on to a second reading and vote, likely to take place at the council’s next meeting July 12.