President: Revell Allen
Vice President: Helmut Hietzker
Secretary: Sheila House
Treasurer: Cynthia Watters
Revell Allen
Some of my earliest and fondest memories are of time spent being read to, reading, and visiting the library in the small Connecticut town where I grew up. I have two adult daughters and taught in Barre, Vermont for 32 years. As a parent and teacher, I read to learn, to teach and to escape. I also enjoy reading aloud to others. I moved to Middlebury in February 2018 from Randolph, Vermont, where I served on the board of the Friends of Kimball Library for many years. Libraries welcome and provide essential services for people of all ages and backgrounds; serving on the board of Friends of Ilsley allows me to help support the vital work of our community library.
Helmut H. Hietzker
I was asked to join the Friends of the Ilsley Library Board four years ago. As a community volunteer and avid reader my goal is to have the Ilsley Library provide a positive and productive service to the residents of this area. Since my wife, Gail, and I serve on a number of boards, I value the time and effort I provide to this group.
Cynthia Watters
Cynthia was a librarian in Vermont for many years—first as a regional librarian for the VT Dept. of Libraries (her region included Middlebury) and then as a catalog librarian at Middlebury College—until her retirement several years ago. She has always been committed to public libraries and served on the Ilsley Board of Trustees for a term in the late 1970’s. Shortly after she retired she accepted an invitation to serve as Treasurer for the Friends of the Ilsley Library and has been happily overseeing their funds ever since.
Lorrie Muller
In my lifetime I have moved 15 times and now am happily sharing a house in Middlebury with my daughter Lyn. My growing up years were in Ohio and I graduated from Valparaiso University in Indiana, outside of Chicago in 1958. My husband and I restored and enlarged a 19th century Dutch farm house in upstate NewYork which prepared me for the job of helping to change the Annex to include an apartment for me.
My final career was to launch a county-wide volunteer adult literacy program and act as director for 15 years. We graduated thousands of adults into the literate world.
When I moved to Middlebury, I planned to volunteer so that I would be meeting the nicest people in town. I promised myself that I would choose areas of interest where I had never volunteered before. This led me to accept the role as a board member of the Friends of Ilsley Library. It has been my pleasure to be elected president several times.
Our goal is to support our wonderful library staff and financially support the programming for adults, children and youth. Our funds come from the membership and donations from the public and this energetic board continues the once-a-month book sales on the first Saturday every month.
Barbara Doyle-Wilch
I am excited to be a part of the Friends of the Ilsley Library Board! As a child, my Mother introduced me to libraries by taking me to the library almost daily for story hours, reading excitement and, I think, her own sanity. As I grew up, the public library became the place where I could learn how to do new things and be excited by new ideas. Later in life I learned that with the information coming from the library shelves, anything was possible. I became a librarian and have had, for over 40 years, wonderful opportunities to develop libraries, both public and academic, to serve their communities. Now I am retired and anxious to help our library grow and improve.
Sheila House
Sheila spent the majority of her working years in libraries: first in a hospital medical library concurrent with her library school attendance, then followed by eight years as the children’s librarian in a small town public library, and finally capped by 18 years as a school librarian for grades K-8. She always loved going to work because every day was different. While her professional goal was to make her libraries a little better each day–usually by discovering and meeting the needs of her clientele–an additional benefit was spending so many hours in surroundings both stimulating and comforting. When one of her brothers asked, “What do you librarians do for fun,” Sheila considered responding, “We go to our jobs,” something that many employed folks would never understand. So even after retirement, Sheila is still fortunate to spend time in another wonderful library, volunteering both for the Ilsley Library and for the Friends of the Ilsley Library.
Jan Jaferian
Dr. Jaferian has been an avid user and supporter of libraries for decades. She was first introduced to libraries as a young child, initially visiting the Portsmouth NH library, where she was introduced to book borrowing, much to her 4-year old delight. Throughout college and graduate school, she relied on various libraries for research as well as casual reading. She is an enthusiastic advocate of libraries for all ages and purposes, from reading programs and book loans to various community enrichment programs for lifelong learning as well as community engagement. She has passed on her love of libraries first to her daughter and more recently to her granddaughter. She is especially delighted to be a member of the Friends Board to serve the Ilsley Library community with her expertise in organization development and financial management.
Kathleen Sagendorf
Kathy has lived in Middlebury since 1974. She had a long career as a teacher, with a passion for helping her students develop a love of reading. She was a country gal growing up. Once a month, her family drove to the library to borrow enough books to read during the following month. Every evening was a reading time. After she retired, she looked for opportunities to support reading for all ages. She joined the Friends in 2021, and felt it has been just what she was searching for.
Pam Shafer
Pam recently retired and returned to Vermont after a 30-year career as a librarian in special, public and academic libraries. Her love of reading began as a young child when she frequented the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington, where books fed her curiosity and broadened her world. She is now eager to be part of a group so passionate about providing opportunities for expanding imagination, exposing ideas, and instilling a love of reading in others.
John Murray
Friends of the Ilsley Library 