Brief: Gould takes over national post

President Clinton named a Reno woman to head the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science.

Martha B. Gould, retired director of the Washoe County Library, takes over the post after serving as vice-chair. She was first appointed to the commission in 1993 and reappointed to a five-year term in 1998.

The commission is a permanent, independent agency of the federal government that appraises the adequacies and deficiencies of current library and information resources and services and advises the president and Congress on national and international policies and plans.

Gould's career includes work at the New York Public Library, the Nevada State Library and the Los Angeles Public Library. She has served as president of the Nevada Library Association and as a member of the Legislative Committee of the American Library Association, the ALA Council and the ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee.