2008-2009 Board Members

Board Members

John Carson National Account Manager, Brodart A long standing and active member of FOLUSA, John is an industry veteran with over 40 years of service to Brodart customers across the United States. John’s career in the library industry includes assignments as Sales Representative, Customer Service Manager, Sales Manager leading up to his present position as National Account Manager for Brodart’s Books & Automation Division.	George Coe Baker & Taylor As President of Baker & Taylor Institutional, George Coe is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the company's units serving the public, school, and academic markets. He is also responsible for Baker & Taylor's Customized Library Services group and Sales Administration. Prior to joining Baker & Taylor in 2000, George was vice president and general manager of Brodart Books, Brodart Library Automation Services and Brodart School Automation. He has over 26 years of experience in the library business.
Clare Delaney Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma Clare Delaney is the current president of Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma, FOLIO. She has also served as secretary and first vice president for this state Friends group in Oklahoma. She is a member of Friends of Metropolitan Library System and Friends of the Ralph Ellison Library, both in Oklahoma City.	Agnes M. Griffin Agnes Griffin is a retired librarian who remains active in ALA and her state library association. She is currently working to establish a state Friends group in Arizona to encourage local Friends groups to work together on behalf of library funding and support at all levels.
Charles Hanson Director of Library Services, Kettering University	Samuel T. Huang University of Florida Libraries Samuel Huang recently joined the University of Florida Libraries as Associate Dean for Development at George A. Smathers Libraries. He is busy starting a new Friends of the Library group. Previously, he served as Associate Dean for External Relations at the University of Arizona Libraries since May 2000. He was curator of rare books and special collections at Northern Illinois University Libraries from 1992 to 2000. This position has influenced him to be a fundraiser for the libraries. As Associate Dean for External Relations, he has built a close relationship with his Friends group at the University of Arizona and motivated the Friends to help raise funds in support his library. He has been instrumental in revitalizing the Friends of the Libraries at both university libraries. During his tenure as a faculty liaison to the Friends at both institutions, the Friends membership tripled in two years. The Friends of the Libraries at both Northern Illinois University (1999) and the University of Arizona (2000) received the Baker and Taylor Friends of Libraries USA outstanding achievement award. He is active with American Library Association, ACRL, LAMA, and the Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA).
Cherine Janzen Janzen Ventures, Inc. Cherine Janzen is vice president of Janzen Ventures, Inc., a company focused on investment activities. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in the Management of Human Resources from Southern Nazarene University and completed an Associate Degree in Interior Design. Janzen serves on the Board of Trustees for The Tulsa Ballet Theatre, is a member of the United Way Alexis deTocqueville Society, and has been involved in the past as a Camp Fire and Boy Scout leader. She is a member of a Kansas City women's organization focused on philanthropic and cultural interests as well as being active in breast cancer awareness locally and nationally. She has served as a Presbyterian elder and has been active in church programs particularly focused on children and youth. Janzen enjoys design activities including jewelry design and textile arts. She is an active gardener and enjoys golf, scuba diving, travel and fitness activities. Janzen and her husband Howard, have three grown children and live in Leawood, Kansas.	Jeana Mays-Browne Board of Trustees of the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library Jeana Mays-Browne served as a Elementary School teacher from 1981 to 1984. She worked for the Big Sister -Women Employed Volunteer Peer Program from 1989 to 2002 and as a Flight Attendant for American Airlines from 1984 to present. Jeana has served on the Board of Trustees of the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library District from 1999 to present and has been the president since 2005.
Ed McBride Chief Marketing & Outreach Officer, Solinet Ed McBride has worked with libraries for almost 27 years in public libraries in various capacities including library administration and planning. In his library administrative roles he has worked closely with the Friends organizations and know first hand the importance of these organizations and the role they play. As a library vendor, he has witnessed the power of library advocacy and support that has enabled many libraries to expand their programs and provide services to their customers that otherwise they would not have been able to do.	Peter Pearson Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library Peter Pearson is the President of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library in Minnesota. Pearson has a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Minnesota. Peter served for six years on the Board of Directors of Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) and was the Board Chair of Libraries for the Future (LFF) in New York for three years and still sits on that Board. Mr. Pearson has also been Board Chair and Trustee of the Metropolitan Library Service Agency, which is the Twin Cities’ regional library system, and a Trustee of Metronet, the Twin Cities’ multi-type library system. In June, 2005, Mr. Pearson was inducted into the American Library Association’s Advocacy Honor Role as an outstanding library advocate in Minnesota and the U.S. He is a frequent speaker and presenter at state and national library conferences.
Veronda J. Pitchford Urban Libraries Council Veronda J. Pitchford is the Program Officer at the Urban Libraries Council, a 150+ membership organization of public libraries and the corporations that serve them throughout North America. In her not so recent past she has been the Assistant Director of the Chicago office and Director of Services for Academic and Special Libraries for the Metropolitan Library System and Coordinator of Bibliographic Instruction and Co-Coordinator of the Academic Library Residency Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago of which she is a former participant. She is very active in the American Library Association (ALA) and the Illinois Library Association (ILA). Currently she is serving on the Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) board of Directors, the Illinois Center for the Book Board of Directors and the American Library Association Spectrum Advisory Council. In 2005, Library Journal honored her as a Mover and Shaker. She has an undergraduate degree in Public Relations from Central Michigan University and a Masters degree (summa cum laude) in Library and Information Science from North Carolina Central University, a Historically Black College in Durham, North Carolina.	Barbara S. Prentice Barbara Prentice, PHD Special Ed & Psychology, retired educator from 1971, served several terms on Tucson Pima Library Board and is a Founding member of Tucson Pima Library Foundation. Barbara has been an ALA/ ALTA member since 1971 and a FOLUSA member since 1980. She is a past president of ALTA.
Robert Rotello VP, Public Library & Gov. Markets, Baker & Taylor	Kay K. Runge Library Consulting, P.A. Kay K. Runge served as director of the Des Moines Public Library from 2001 through 2007. Past director jobs have included Scott County Library System and Davenport Public Library. She has a degree from Iowa State University with a BS in History Education and from the University of Iowa with a Master's Degree in Library Science. Kay was President of the Public Library Association in 2000. The American Library Trustee Advocates and the American Library Association named her to the National Advocacy Honor Roll in 2000. She also was named 2000 Member of the Year of the Iowa Library Association where she served as president in 1983 and she received the Iowa Educational Media Association Intellectual Freedom Award in 1984. In addition to she has been a guest lecturer at the University of Iowa Library School and serves on the University's Library School Advisory Board.
Susan J. Schmidt Friends of Montgomery County, Maryland, Inc. Susan Schmidt is a professional library volunteer! She is the Immediate Past-President of FOLUSA. She is also the past President of the Montgomery County Maryland Friends and a lifetime cook and bottle washer of her local library Friends group. She also serves on the Maryland Advisory Council on Libraries. Susan is a frequent speaker at ALA and the Maryland Library Association's meetings on advocacy and Friends. When not volunteering, she is a special education assistant in the public schools and a soccer mom.	Margaret A. Schuster Hennepin County Public Library
Kathryn Suarez Neal-Schuman Publishers After joining Neal-Schuman Publishers in June 2007 as Vice President of Finance & Business Development, Kathryn C. Suárez oversees marketing, business planning, and the company's new strategic expansion effort, including the Neal-Schuman Professional Education Network of web and audio professional development workshops. Founded in 1976, Neal-Schuman Publishers is the leading provider of library management, Internet and information technology resources, and co-publisher for the Medical Library Association (MLA). Previously, Kathryn was Director of Reference Publishing for CQ Press where she oversaw all product development, editorial, sales and marketing for libraries during the period of expansion from print-only to multi-media publisher. She holds a B.A. in American Studies from Northwestern University, where her first work/study job was binding rare library books in acid-free paper.	Rod Wagner Nebraska Library Commission Rod Wagner is Director of the Nebraska Library Commission. Rod was appointed to his current position in 1988 and prior to that served as the Commission’s deputy director. Rod is a member of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies and Western Council of State Libraries. He is a past president of the Nebraska Library Association and has served as the Nebraska Library Association’s chapter councilor on the American Library Association Council. He is also a founding member and current ex-officio member of the Nebraska Center for the Book board of directors. In his work with the Nebraska Center for the Book, Rod is actively involved in Center for the Book programs and projects with direct involvement in the Center’s awards program, including the annual Nebraska Book Awards competition. Rod has a bachelor’s degree in social science education from Wayne State College, and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and library science from the University of Missouri - Columbia.
Alan Walker Penguin Group (USA) Alan Walker, Senior Director of Academic and Library Marketing & Sales for Penguin Group (USA) Inc. has been with Penguin since 1992, and runs the largest academic marketing department in trade publishing. He started his publishing career with Oxford University Press in 1987 after graduating with a B.A. in History from Columbia University. Alan is married to his wife Sarah of five years and lives in Woodlawn, in the Bronx, with their two cats Lily and Charlotte.	C. David Warren Richland County Public Library David Warren, executive director of the Richland County Public Library, is recognized across the country and internationally for his leadership and strength in library management. His reputation as an innovator has led to numerous appointments on local, state and national organizations, and his leadership and vision resulted in RCPL being named the 2001 National Library of the Year.
Helen Wilbur VP, Consortia and Major Accounts, Gale Cengage