Joe McConnell, co-chair of the library's fundraising campaign, is a Washington area native who grew up on a Jackson Township farm. Following a five-year stint in the Air Force as a navigator on a KC-135 tanker refueler aircraft, Joe returned to Washington where he has been an attorney for 30 years. He and his wife Marde, a home-school student coordinator, have three adult daughters. His eldest daughter, Katie, practices law in her father's firm; Carrie is a teacher in Iowa City and Christie is a communications major who works in Des Moines for a pharmaceutical training company. Joe has been a member of the Washington Free Public Library Foundation since 2005. His favorite author is Stephen E. Ambrose; and his most recent trip to the library was to check Consumer Reports magazine before he made a purchase.