Cassie Haynes, Rachel Goldberg and Gaurav Kulkarni held the three highest vote totals for three available seats on the Ann Arbor District Library Board of Trustees in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, election, according to unofficial county results.
The three ran as a joint slate, finishing ahead of independent candidate Zach Buck in the reported count. With all 58 precincts listed as fully counted in the county’s Nov. 4 report, Goldberg led with 45,365 votes, or 31.73% of the votes cast in the race, followed by Haynes at 44,338, or 31.01%, and Kulkarni at 35,351, or 24.73%, according to unofficial results from Washtenaw County. Buck received 17,510 votes, or 12.25%.
The three positions carry four-year terms on the seven-member board. The election comes as the library prepares for a new downtown library with housing above it spanning the Library Lane and current library sites.
Who they are
Haynes, a trustee appointed to the board Jan. 26 to fill a vacancy, was the only incumbent in the race. A 22-year Ann Arbor resident, she is executive director of the Independence Hall Association, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, and co-founded Resolve Philly, an organization focused on community journalism, according to her campaign biography. She was a 2024–2025 Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan.
Goldberg is a librarian at Wines Elementary School and chairs the Ann Arbor Public Schools elementary library department, according to the school’s directory and her campaign biography. Kulkarni, a software engineer and 21-year Ann Arbor resident, serves on the board of Neighbors for More Neighbors, a housing advocacy group.
The slate campaigned on protecting the library as a public space, providing diverse information resources and continuing the library’s growth, according to its campaign platform.
Campaign endorsements
The Washtenaw County Democratic Party, the Ann Arbor Education Association, the Michigan Education Association and AADL Board President Aidan Sova all endorsed the Haynes-Goldberg-Kulkarni slate, according to its campaign website and the MEA’s recommendations.
Buck, who has more than a dozen years of library experience, was endorsed by Yousef Rabhi. MLive reported Buck also received support from the Washtenaw County GOP.
The downtown library project ahead
Ann Arbor voters authorized the transfer of Library Lane air rights to the library district through Proposals A and B in August 2025. The Ann Arbor City Council then voted unanimously on April 20 to sell those air rights to AADL for $1, allowing a building up to 260 feet tall, as we reported Sept. 30.
The planned development calls for a new public library with indoor meeting spaces, about 10,000 square feet of outdoor public space and a mix of housing units, including affordable, senior and arts-community units. AADL expects to keep operating in the current downtown library until at least 2029, according to the city’s April announcement.
The candidates disagreed on how to handle housing in the project. The slate’s platform supported a mix of affordable, senior, artist and market-rate housing. Buck argued the space should prioritize housing for working-class residents and opposed giving what he called “a sweet deal to a corporate developer,” according to The Michigan Daily’s pre-election candidate interviews.
The city’s April announcement identified selecting development partners, public engagement on design and city approvals as next steps. If construction does not begin within seven years, the air rights revert to the city, though AADL may request an extension of up to three years, as reported in our September preview.
Results remain unofficial until canvassing and certification are complete.
