An important update from the Koha Foundation Steering Group: Milestones achieved and our first board nominees!

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Over 18 months ago, at KohaCon24, we embarked on a journey to establish a formal governance structure for our global project under the Open Library Foundation (OLF). Today, we are very happy to share that we have reached a massive milestone in that journey.

Thank you for sticking with us through this extensive process. Building the foundational bylaws and guidelines for a community as diverse as ours takes time, care, and deep thought. Your active engagement in our consultations, your insightful feedback, and your participation in the original vote to go down this path have been absolutely vital. This foundation belongs to the community, and it has truly been shaped by the community.

Celebrating our first board nominees

Thanks to your engagement, the call for nominations was a great success. Please join us in offering a huge congratulation to the very first nominated members of the inaugural Koha Charitable Foundation Board!

  • Ari Mäkiranta
  • Becky Williams
  • Brendan Gallagher
  • Fred King
  • Katy Maydon
  • Valentin Farge
  • Andrew Auld

These individuals have stepped up to help guide Koha into its next chapter, ensuring our long-term sustainability, financial oversight, and core values remain strong. We are incredibly grateful for their leadership.

The door is still open: board nominations remain welcome

While we have a fantastic initial group to get the ball rolling, the board is not yet full (maximum 11 seats). A truly robust board reflects the full breadth of our global community. Because we still have vacant seats, we are keeping nominations open on an ongoing basis. Whether you are considering self-nomination or know someone who would bring a valuable perspective to Koha’s governance—especially as we look toward future planning and events like WOLFCon and Kohacon—we strongly encourage you to step forward.

If you are interested or would like to nominate a peer, please reach out to me (for the timebeing!) at andrew.auld@openfifth.co.uk.

Staying connected and informed

Openness and full access to information has always been part of Koha’s way of doing things. To ensure everyone can easily follow along with this next chapter, we are in the process of setting up a dedicated space on the Koha community website. This new hub will be your go-to resource for everything related to governance, including:

  • Information about current board members.
  • Schedules, agendas, and minutes for upcoming board meetings.
  • Updates on future strategic directions and foundation initiatives.

We will share the link as soon as it is live so you can stay fully informed and engaged with the board’s work.

The transitional Steering Group is now preparing to hand over to this newly formed board. Thank you all once again for your patience, your passion, and your dedication to keeping Koha vibrant and independent. And thank you in particular to the out-going members of the Steering Group who have all worked so hard to get us to this point.

Onward and upward!

Warm regards,
Andrew Auld/The Koha Foundation Steering Group

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