Sonoma County Library Commission

Bio: Deborah Doyle is a writer, editor and fundraiser, who has been an active library advocate, as a professional and volunteer, at local, state and national levels. She has served as president of both California Public Library Advocates and the California Library Association. She worked in both staff and volunteer roles — including executive director and board chair — at Friends of the SF Public Library. She sits in ALA’s Committee on Legislation, has chaired ALA/United for Libraries' Advocacy Committee, and is currently United’s President-elect. Deborah has worked in marketing recruiting and research. She is a performer who currently plays Queen Elizabeth I at renaissance faires and events throughout Northern California. Deborah holds a BA from University of Virginia with high honors and an Executive MLIS from San Jose State University. She and her husband live in Windsor. She represents the town of Windsor on the Library Commission and serves as Chair.

Bio: Andy Elkind believes that libraries play a key role in supporting early childhood education, adult literacy, job skills, lifelong learning, and economic development. His love of libraries began as a child when his mother took him on weekly trips to the bookmobile in his home town of Stamford, Connecticut. Andy’s professional career spans four decades and has focused on providing training, coaching, and consulting services to help individuals, teams, and organizations acquire the skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to perform at their best. He has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Psychology from Yale College, and a master’s degree in Organizational Management Development from Fielding Graduate University. Andy lives in Healdsburg with his wife (and business partner) Kerry Weiner. He represents the City of Healdsburg on the Library Commission.

Bio: Barbara Mackenzie is a native of Indiana, graduate of the University of California Irvine, and 40-year-plus resident of Rohnert Park. She enjoyed a three-decade career in medical management and administration, primarily at Santa Rosa OB/GYN Medical Group, and the Sonoma County Medical Association. A lifelong library lover, she served on the Board of Friends of the Rohnert Park/Cotati Library for nine years, and was appointed to the Rohnert Park Library Advisory Board in 2012. She has been involved in many special events and activities in support of the library through both these organizations. Barbara serves on the Green Music Center Advisory Board and Finance Committee, supports many of the fine programs at the GMC, and is working to strengthen the relationship between the GMC and the library. A community member on the St. Joseph Health System Hospices Advisory Board for almost 20 years, Barbara has also served on its Executive Committee and Long Range Planning Committees. Prior to her Library Commission appointment, Barbara was very active with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Sonoma State University, and served as Advisory Board Member, Ambassador, Science Club co-founder and student field trip organizer. Barbara is an amateur genealogist and photographer, and other favorite activities include exploring parks and cities, attending arts, music and community activities, and reading. She and her husband Jake have enjoyed the company of many cats and dogs over the years, and visit their human extended families in the US and UK as they find the time. Barbara has represented the City of Rohnert Park on the Library Commission since 2014.

Bio: A Chicago native, Sarah Laggos has enjoyed living in Sonoma County for the last decade. Sarah has spent her twenty-plus year career working in higher education fundraising and passionately believes in supporting students to pursue their dreams. As the Director of Philanthropy at Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation, she is honored to be the bridge between those that find themselves in need of help and those that can help. Sarah holds a Masters in Public Service Management and a Bachelors in Psychology from DePaul University. Sarah is the proud cheerleader, taxi driver, social calendar organizing mom to a high energy 7-year-old who loves soccer, baseball, gymnastics, and climbing trees. She's lucky to be supported by an amazing husband Rick, who gives her time to pursue her personal passions, like helping libraries.

Bio: Eve Goldberg is a writer and filmmaker. She has produced, directed, and edited documentaries, television shows, and videos for corporate, non-profit, and community organizations. Eve has served on the Sonoma County Juvenile Justice Commission, and has worked with Daily Acts, the Ceres Community Project, and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Youth). She has also been an adult literacy tutor with the Sonoma County Library. She holds a BA in Film from San Francisco State University, and an MA in Counselling Psychology from Antioch University West. She and her partner, Linda, have lived in Santa Rosa since 2002. She represents the County of Sonoma on the Library Commission.

Bio: When Brooke Greene was looking for a small town in which to raise her family, her bottom-line criterion was that the town be large enough to have a library. In 1984, Brooke and her husband were lucky enough to find a home just a block from the Cloverdale branch, where they still live. Brooke is retired and was formerly employed by the Cloverdale Senior Multi-purpose Center, private businesses in Cloverdale, and Cloverdale Unified School District. She currently co-writes the “Cloverdale Comments” column in the Sonoma County Gazette and serves on Cloverdale Indivisible’s Steering Committee. As co-coordinator of the United Way’s Schools of Hope literacy program, she brought community volunteers and young emerging readers together in one-on-one tutoring sessions. She has served on the boards of CARE (Cloverdale’s educational foundation), Friends of the Cloverdale Library, and the Alexander Valley Healthcare Center.

Bio: Paul Heavenridge is the executive director of Literacyworks, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting educators and learners in the fields of adult and family literacy. Paul has a master’s degree in Counseling and Adult Education and an MFT. He has an extensive background in educational technology design and delivery, as well as web-based training development and curriculum design. As a library commissioner, he feels that that the library is the soul of the community and strongly supports the library’s adult literacy program expansion. He believes in lifelong learning as a path towards opportunity and fulfillment. Paul is a Roseland School District Community Advisory Board member, a Friend of the Petaluma River board member, and an advisory board member of the Space Station Museum in Novato. He directs the Literacyworks Lecture series in Sonoma County. He grew up on lakes and rivers in Michigan. He loves to scuba dive, kayak, raise bees, read, talk space stuff, and, to the dismay of many, pun. Paul represents the City of Petaluma on the Library Commission.

Bio: David Cahill is a retired lawyer from Ann Arbor, Michigan. While there, he served on a library board similar to our Library Commission and helped design several library branches. He is particularly interested in seeing that Sonoma County's underserved communities are provided all of our library system’s offerings. He lives in the Santa Rosa Junior College Neighborhood with his wife, Sabra Briere, and three cats. He represents the City of Santa Rosa on the Library Commission.

Bio: Fred Engbarth, a resident of Sonoma County since 1971, is the owner of an employment law and mediation practice which currently serves small-medium sized businesses and not for profit organizations located in Sonoma County. Fred has over 40 years of experience resolving workplace disputes in a range of subject areas and for clients in both the public and private sectors primarily through the use of negotiation and mediation. As an employment law attorney and consultant, the focus of his practice is the creation of healthy work environments and the prevention of employment disputes.

Bio: Tina moved to Sonoma County in 1998. She grew up in England and Massachusetts, and still remembers the Bookmobile coming to her neighborhood. Libraries and reading were a big part of her childhood, and she is following in the footsteps of her dad, who was a volunteer and board member of his local library. Tina was a science teacher at Sonoma Country Day School for 15 years and before that worked at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center as the director of their School Garden Teacher Training Program. She has taught both children and adults in these roles. She also worked at various research labs at the University of Rochester, NY. She, along with her family, is a founding member of Frog Song, a cohousing community in Cotati. She was a volunteer for the Sonoma Master Gardeners, a Big Sister in the Santa Cruz Big Brother/Big Sister organization, and served on the board of the Santa Cruz Women’s Health Center.