Board of Directors - Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library

I am thrilled after a lifetime professionally working in libraries to be able to give again in volunteer position.  I got my Master's Degree in Librarianship from the University of Washington.  My husband and I with our two young children moved to the Island in 1976.  I began my career as a part-time children's librarian with Kitsap Regional Library at Bainbridge Island two years later.  It was wonderful to work and grow with the system and it even allowed me to actively volunteer for the Washington Library Association, culminating as its President.  I am currently a Director of Bainbridge Public Library and facilitate one of the library's book groups.  I am an active reader, gardener and quilter.  

Long a member of the art community, for 23 years Linda was the owner of Frame it on Broadway/Linda Meier Gallery.  She has served previously Bainbridge Friends of the Library Board and is a past President of the Bainbridge Public Library Board.  "I have lived on Bainbridge Island since 2001 on a small farm we call Chateau Poulet.  We raise chickens, ducks, sheep, a goat and 3 spoiled indoor cats.  I grow most of our own vegetables and my husband grows most of our fruits and berries. Linda shares management of the Gardening section in the FOL book room with Becky Donegan.  She is also on the Art Committee of the BPL Board and coordinates the monthly art exhibits in the meeting room.

Charlene is another long-time volunteer with the Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library.  She has also volunteered in the past at the Library as a Click! volunteer to help library users with their computers and how to get along in the digital world.  Charlene is a past Director and Treasurer of the FOL Board and is one of the volunteers who checks online prices for donated books.  She also manages the Religion, Ecology, and Nature sections of the FOL book room.

After retiring in 2004, Charlie and his wife Barbara moved to Bainbridge Island from Shanghai, China. He has been active in the Bainbridge Island Friends of the Library, volunteering with them since 2005 and serving on the Board in the past as Treasurer and later as President. Charlie is one of the volunteers who checks online prices of donated books and other materials.  He also manages the Politics, Current Events, Business, and Personal Finance section in the FOL book room. He and Barbara are amateur gardeners.

Barbara is a relatively new member of FOL, obvious in her inability to resist buying more books. She and her husband, who she met in a college library, retired early from teaching to follow their granddaughters to Gig Harbor in 2005.  As often happens, a couple of more moves became necessary, including a stint in Narragansett, RI. Happily the last move was to BI in 2014. Following Roger’s death in 2015, Barbara became a volunteer with Friday Tidies. The following year she also joined FOL and has thoroughly enjoyed helping Roz with the History Dept., cleaning up after book sales, eating Carol’s cookies and discussing books with this well read, wonderful group.

In all my long life of volunteering, I've never encountered such a group of smart, funny, and hardworking people as the volunteers at BI Friends of the Library. They make book magic happen, uniting readers with books and raising money -  I'm so glad to be part of it. I'm an artist, working in watercolor and artists' books, and am excited to have a show scheduled at BPL in 2025. I manage the travel and travel memoir section, where, for people with wanderlust, there are treasures to be found!

I was born in Tacoma but left when I was three years old. I spent most of my life in the Philadelphia area. I am fortunate to have wonderful children and grandchildren. As all of the children had moved west I decided to do the same. I chose Bainbridge Island as my youngest son and family were here and have never regretted the decision. I’ve been an avid reader my whole life and was so happy when Judy Ruliffson introduced me to the FOL. What a joy to be surrounded by such a variety of books and the wonderful volunteers who have become my "friends.” Carol‘s excellent cookies are also a huge draw!!

Dawn grew up in Seattle, moved to Vancouver, BC, then Dana Point, California. In 2012, her BI kids convinced her to move to the island, a move she’s had not regretted. Her career background is in travel and real estate. For Dawn, family and friends are everything. So is playing in the clay as a potter since 1986…and reading, her other passion. Her best pal, Judy Ruliffson, told her all about FOL and it sounded like a good way to give some of that passion back. She also has had board experience in the travel business in Canada, and in the provincial BC ceramic group in Vancouver, volunteered at BIMA as a docent and at Bloedel. Dawn has really enjoyed her weekly FOL visits with the folks as a book sorter.

Merry has lived on the island since 1996 and since that time has purchased many, many books at the FOL Book Sales.  After retiring in 2021, she is furthering her passion with books by volunteering with Friends of the Library. She loves to read, spend time with family and is traveling whenever she can. In the past, she has served on the boards for Bainbridge Island Rowing Club, Marge Williams Center, and served as the Northwest chapter chair for the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.

Judy moved to Bainbridge in 2010 after retiring from 38 years of teaching in southern California: all grades K-5, Reading Specialist, Literacy Coach, community college, and in the Masters program at Cal State. One of her first BPL volunteer jobs was to organize the fiction and non-fiction books on the return carts so they could be re-shelved. She was recruited for a 3 years stint as a Director on the BPL Board. Soon after that, she found her perfect spot cashiering for the FOL Book Sales. She timidly started helping FOL sort books and now delights in finding that one-of-a-kind treasured book to sell online. She has been a volunteer at Bloedel, BIMA, and BPA and hopes those opportunities will return soon. Besides books, another of her passions is film: since retiring, she has returned every year to the Palm Springs International Film Festival where her record is 46 films in 11 days (she has the journals to remind her of all the films).