Meet Our Board
Trustees of York Public Library
To contact the Board of Trustees, please email trustees@yorkpubliclibrary.org
Erin McGann, President
Erin grew up in many different places around the US, spending most summers in York with her grandparents. Libraries and reading have been the constant in her life. Erin read her way through many small town libraries, as both a child and an adult. When she lived in Taos she decided to read the whole library, to start with the A’s and read to the Z’ (she moved before she got to the Z’s). Erin moved to York from Austin, Texas in 2020, and one of the first things she did was get a library card. Erin works as the Disaster Behavioral Health Coordinator for the Maine CDC, as a consultant for SAMSHA helping set up suicide prevention plans for Service Members, Veterans and their families, and as an Adjunct Professor at UNE and Endicott College. For these jobs, Erin travels often and only survives airports and hotel rooms because of books. For Erin, as for many others, books are not a luxury, but a necessity in life, and public libraries are the way to assure that need is met.
Growing up in Vermont, the public library was a frequent stop for Emily. Books sparked in her a curiosity for the world and a love of stories. Through her own life adventures, Emily has come to appreciate something else that her hometown library provided: a place of community and valuable access to information.
Emily first realized the value of access to opportunity in its absence while serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. There, she started a small business with a group of indigenous women and built out the community’s rural library through donations, programming and by soliciting unwitting family members to haul down hundreds of children’s books in their luggage. Later, she worked at the Institute of International Education helping Fulbright scholars pursue their higher education degrees in the US. Emily then worked for over a decade in the technology industry: first at Bloomberg in emerging markets and then at Google in international expansion and education.
Emily moved to York Maine during the pandemic. She fell in love with the York Public Library and can often be seen checking out precariously tall stacks of books to read to her young kids. She is thrilled to serve on the YPL board and looks forward to learning, building community, and sharing in her curiosity of the world.
IN MEMORIAM: Dan Bancroft, Former President
Dan and his wife Anne moved to York in 2017. Having retired after 45 years as a trial lawyer, he spent his time writing plays, substitute teaching at the York Middle School, and entertaining his grandchildren. His love affair with libraries ran deep, and he was delighted to work with the amazing library board members and staff in order to continue to provide York with a place where people and ideas can connect. In addition to YPLA’s Board, Dan served on the Board of Directors of Commonwealth Land Trust, a Massachusetts-based 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to preserving neighborhoods and preventing homelessness.
Steve Gendron, Treasurer
Born and raised in York County, Steve ventured off to far away Portland to attend college, where he earned both his bachelor’s degree in business and MBA from the University of Southern Maine. Shortly thereafter, his schooling and background in loan underwriting afforded him the opportunity to move away from his beloved-home State to work tirelessly on excel spreadsheets calculating multi-million-dollar bond payments for the worst financial securities products ever invented for several years at the corporate trust headquarters of a behemoth of a financial institution located very near the Nation’s Capital. Thanks to a DC suburb neighbor of his, who recognized Steve’s waning interest in VLOOKUPs and multi-comma payouts that were not to his own account, he landed his dream job with the Securities and Exchange Commission working alongside attorneys and accountants battling the evils of the very industry in which he spent so many coffee-filled days and nights keeping the grimy dollars flowing (even sometimes not down the toilet). Some time later, his wife, Megan, and he decided it was time to leave the place which Kennedy once called a city of Northern charm and Southern efficiency, when they planned to bring their daughter, Harper, into the world. Steve is proud to say that Harper, like he (and not Megan), is a true Mainer. And a York County, Mainer, at that. Within a year of returning to this great State, Harper demanded that her parents bring her to York to reside for the rest of time, and so they did. Steve has settled for the, now occasional, commute to Boston, where he works for the Boston Fed, focusing on leading a diverse and inclusive group of individuals in the central bank’s Credit Risk Management and Regulatory Reserves area. Mostly, though, Steve spends time paddling away from the sharks at Long Sands while surfing and shushing his daughter in the Children’s Room of the library.
Suzanne Berlin, Secretary
Volunteering has always been an important part of Suzanne’s life. As a youth, she would spend Saturday afternoons at her local library reading the latest additions on the book rack. In college, Suzanne volunteered/managed a program helping individuals from the local group home with outside activities such as preparing a Thanksgiving dinner. While working in Boston, she volunteered at an East Boston Community Center to help local residents navigate their healthcare issues. Suzanne graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Chemistry. She then received her medical degree from the University of New England and later earned a masters degree in Healthcare Ethics from Creighton University. In 1999, Suzanne, her husband and their 2 children moved to York. Their children attended the York public schools and she volunteered, as many parents do, assisting at the sports games, school outings and music programs. Throughout her professional career in both community and academia, she has served on hospital Ethics Committees and Institutional Review Boards. Presently, she is a consultant for a commercial Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviewing oncology clinical trials. Suzanne retired from clinical practice in 2019 and since then has found time to become involved with local organizations. She is a supporting member of the library and has volunteered at programs such as the 2022 100th anniversary celebration and the 2023 John Palfrey lecture. She enjoys being a Board member of the Old York Garden Club serving on scholarship and youth education committees. She is also a member of the York Land Trust and has been involved with summer planting and weeding projects as well as helping at their booth last year during the Climate Action Fair. In addition, personal activities include gardening, cooking, fishing (especially in Alaska), clamming, traveling, photography, and playing musical instruments.
Janet Blyberg
Janet Blyberg currently serves as membership and marketing coordinator for Old York Historical Society in York, Maine. She also is the curator for the Bulman Bed Hangings Project, overseeing the conservation of a rare set of 18th-century crewel-embroidered bed hangings in York’s collection. She organized Old York’s 2015 exhibition, Emma Lewis Coleman: Photographs of Maine. Previously she was assistant curator for exhibitions, research and publishing, at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, where she worked on the exhibitions, American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood (2015), and Asia in Amsterdam: The Culture of Luxury in the Golden Age (2016). She also served as manager for a project to catalogue PEM’s Veldman-Eecen Collection of historic Indian-export textiles. Before joining PEM in 2012, Blyberg worked as a research associate at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, where over the course of her fifteen-year tenure she worked in several departments, including the Publishing Office, the Department of Photographs, and Special Projects in Modern Art. She assisted with a number of major exhibitions, and contributed to several publication projects, including Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set (2002); My Faraway One: Selected Letters of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz (2011); and the forthcoming catalogue raisonné, Mark Rothko: The Works on Paper. Blyberg holds a B.A. in history and fine arts from Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and received her M.A. in museum studies from The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
William Ethridge
Will’s love for books and libraries was first kindled by his grandmother’s library in York Harbor, Maine where he spent summers growing up. Graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he built a career in publishing and education, eventually becoming CEO of Pearson Education and serving on the board of directors of Pearson, plc, a global media conglomerate based in London, which during Will’s tenure on the board of directors also owned Penguin Books and The Financial Times.
Retiring from Pearson at the end of 2013, he now serves as a board member of three education companies, Apex Learning (Chairman), Finalsite, and Ruffalo Noel Levitz (Chairman). He has previously served on the boards CourseSmart (Chairman), Frontline, Interactive Data Corporation, StudyGroup, and TurnitIn. Active in publishing and education industry issues throughout his career, his industry leadership work includes serving as Chairman of the Association of American Publishers (AAP).
While his career has provided Will the opportunity to travel around the world, his heart has always been in York. He and his wife, Debby, moved to York Harbor full-time in 2014. They are active in the community where Will serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Episcopal Church and Debby serves on the board of the York Land Trust. Strong supporters of the library, they participate as speakers in the library’s Book Talks program and make countless visits to the York Library, often accompanied by their three grandchildren.
Maria Gerrity
Maria has been coming to York for over fifty years and remembers well taking her three children to the tiny children’s section the old library. Now she takes her six grandchildren. She believes that a library is not only an intellectual center for a town but also a community hub and a truly democratic institution, open and free to everyone. In her own words: “The York Public Library exemplifies through its many programs how a library can serve the needs of the community by providing books, internet access, after-school programs, and programming aimed at local interests. As a retired high school English teacher and life-long lover of books and reading, I hope I can contribute to making York Public Library an even more vibrant part of our town.”
Amber Harrison
Amber is a York resident who joined York Community Service Association in January of 2023 as the Housing Innovation Manager and continues her work as the Local Health Officer. She has recently worked the last decade for the Town of York as the Director of Code Enforcement. Amber’s varied experience included implementing ordinances on land use and development, as well as collaboration with Town leaders, businesses, and social services to perform Code and Health Officer duties often with those most in need in our community. Amber lives in York with her family and has been an active patron and supporter of libraries.
Bill Littlefield
Bill grew up in Brookline, MA. He is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, has a strong background in Library Science in which he holds a master’s degree from Simmons College. His library experience includes employment at the Dinand and Science Libraries at Holy Cross, and the position of Assistant Director of the Mortenson Library at the University of Hartford. His library experience includes an emphasis on library automation, budgeting and electronic information sources.
Before semi-retirement and a move to York in 2012, Bill and his wife, Gail, lived a quiet rural lifestyle tucked away in Petersham, MA, where they built an expert witness referral business, Healthcare Litigation Support, LLC, from their home offices. During this time Bill served the town as a member of the Petersham Memorial Library Board of Directors.
Bill and Gail enjoy living in the heart of coastal York Village, a significant change from their lives in wooded Petersham. Bill has two stepchildren, three grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. Elsa and Jake, a Golden Retriever and a Bichon Frise, are Bill and Gail’s canine family.
Marina Mails
Marina Mails is a York parent, professional and library enthusiast! Marina is the executive director of York Ready for Climate Action, a grassroots organization in York dedicated to increasing awareness of the causes and effects of climate change, and advancing environmentally friendly and inclusive policies and behaviors.
Before getting involved in climate work six years ago, Marina was a licensed professional counselor in private practice, hospital and hospice settings. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish from Wake Forest University and a Masters in Counseling from UNC Greensboro. Marina and her family have lived in North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Maine, and through all of the moving, building strong community connections has been a top priority. In her spare time Marina enjoys gardening, meeting new people, kayaking, hiking and reading.
Marilyn McLaughlin, Liaison to the Town of York Selectboard
Information coming soon
Heidi Spiller
Heidi Spiller has been a York resident since the early 1990s and, since then, has been a regular patron of the York Public Library. Throughout her more than three decades living in York, Heidi often visited the library with her two daughters, both now amazing young women who are also avid readers. In recent years, Heidi began looking for ways to participate in civic engagement, which led her to the YPL Board of Trustees. She is excited to serve on the Board and looks forward to engaging with library staff and patrons to address issues and contribute to this wonderful community. Heidi holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work from the University of Southern Maine and works as a Mental Health Therapist. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, connecting with nature, and reading books alongside her three cats!