Board

Bern has served Palo Alto for nearly 20 years, first on the Planning Commission and then as a City Councilmember and Mayor. Bern has always placed a high priority on improving the city's infrastructure and physical assets. He campaigned strongly for the successful 2008 library bond measure and is pleased to help with the Foundation's campaign to fill our new Mitchell Library.

Alison Cormack's favorite author is Wallace Stegner and her first library was in Amherst, Massachusetts. Alison loves the library because her kids are so quiet when they get home from the library with new books to read.

Lynn Drake's family visited and used the libraries wherever they lived growing up. It was always a fun family outing and they would each be lost in stacks emerging with a handful of new books. She continues this ritual with her children and loves helping build the new libraries for Palo Alto.

Michael Hall's mother was an English teacher who taught him to read at the age of four. She always said, "No matter what your circumstance in life, you can read your way out of anything, but without it, you are lost." Michael loves that he can help build a place where reading is the idea, the ideal and the goal.

Lenore Jones's favorite authors are Larry McMurtry and Alice Adams. Her first library was in Seaford, Long Island, where she worked all through high school. Being in a library makes Lenore feel content and peaceful, and she has been known to cry while attending openings of new libraries.

Yulin has been a Palo Alto resident for 11 years. With her 9-year old daughter who consumes about 30 books a week, buying books is practically not an option. Consequently, the Palo Alto libraries are one of the favorite hangout places for the family. With both of her children in the bi-lingual immersion program, Yulin loves the fact that our libraries offer a variety of books in different languages.

Mary Jo has spent much of her life in libraries—starting in her childhood use of a small branch library, through high school, college and graduate school and then through more than 35 years of employment in academic and (mostly) public libraries.

John has been active in numerous projects to rebuild Palo Alto's aging infrastructure including election campaigns to increase funding for storm drains and to pass the 2008 library bond measure. John has joined the Library Foundation to help raise the private funds needed to furnish and equip our new and refurbished libraries.

Pandu Nayak has always loved to read. Growing up in India, he considered himself to be a voracious reader. But his notion of "a voracious reader" has been completely redefined by watching the number and variety of books that his daughters read with their access to our unmatched public libraries!

Sigrid Pinsky's family moved often when she was growing up. The local library was usually one of their first stops in town. Libraries held magical possibilities and gateways to new worlds--she loved them. She still does, and now enjoys sharing the excitement and passion for reading with her three children.

Lynne Seymour Russell's favorite author is Mark Salzman ("Iron and Silk", "The Laughing Sutra"). Her first library was the Dana Branch Library in Long Beach, California. Lynne loves the library because her life began when she got her first library card and took home a big stack of good books!

Susie Thom’s love of reading and libraries began in grade school where she often spent her lunchtime at the County Library next to the school. The librarians knew her favorite authors and always set aside new releases for her. A long-time community volunteer, Susie has served on many city task forces, committees, and election campaigns, including the 2002 and 2008 library bond measures. She is a former Chair of the Library Advisory Commission and looks forward to working on the Foundation’s capital campaign to fill the libraries with books, modern furniture, and up-to-date technology.

Lanie Wheeler was raised in a home located one half block from the public library in Cambridge, Massachusetts where she spent many hours "playing" with her best friends Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and the Bobbsey Twins. A resident of Palo Alto for the last 41 years, Lanie has been active in the community, serving on several non-profit Boards, the City's Planning Commission, and the City Council. Lanie served as Mayor in 1996.