Kitsap Regional Library

Your Kitsap Regional Library Board of Trustees Representatives are:

	Jackie Aitchison President North Kitsap Representative		Teresa McDermott Vice President Central Kitsap Representative
	Althea Paulson Bainbridge Island Representative		John Lyall  Bremerton Representative
	Gail Mathison South Kitsap Representative

The Board of Trustees meetings are routinely held the fourth Thursday of each month at the Sylvan Way Branch. Please call Tammy Jeffries, Executive Assistant, at (360) 405-9158 or Ann Hill, Office Assistant, at (360) 475-9163 for date and location verification.

KRL Board of Trustees meeting schedule:

• Thursday, May 22, 2008 at 6:30 p.m., Sylvan Way Branch
• Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 6:30 p.m., Poulsbo Branch
• Thursday, July 24, 2008 at 6:30 p.m., Manchester Branch
• Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 6:30 p.m., Little Boston Branch
• Thursday, September 25, Downtown Bremerton Branch

Meeting Agendas and Minutes back to top

Click on a date to download an Adobe Acrobat file.

Jackie Aitchison

I was born and raised in Bremerton, Washington. I am married, the mother of Chad and Kelly, and Grandma to Lexie, Bryce, Nicholas and Bradley. I served on the Poulsbo Planning Commission for three years and then on the City Council for twelve years. I serve on the Liberty Bay Foundation Board, the NK Fishline Board and am a Master Gardener. I am the Market Manager for the Poulsbo Farmers Market and the Program Director for the BI/NK YWCA A.L.I.V.E. program. I served for nine years on the City of Poulsbo Finance committee and bring my knowledge and experience in that area to the KRL Board of Trustees. As a Councilmember I was very involved in the formation of the Library Capital Facilities District that financed the renovation and expansion of the Poulsbo Library.

I believe Libraries are the heart of a community. Our Kitsap Regional Library system is top notch. Our libraries offer a wealth of information greater than books alone. I am grateful to be able to serve our community as a Board Trustee and to help ensure the Library system remains an integral part of our community.

As a child growing up in Bremerton my Dad would bring my sisters and me to the library on Monday evenings. Afterwards we would go to Dairy Queen. I have fond memories of our Monday evenings. My Dad fostered a love for books early on in my life.

One Holiday season, my children and I wanted to celebrate Hanukah as well as Christmas. We went to the library to acquire information about Hanukah. We found many books that included everything we could possibly want to know. The books included recipes, songs, games, the history of Hanukah, etc. It was great and enabled us to celebrate this Holiday.

Highly recommend library services:

The KRL website is fantastic. You can get a library card online. There are connections to local governments. You can access some great genealogy sites. You can also access the Department of Health for information about birth certificates and so much more. Check it out!

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Teresa McDermott

I have called Kitsap County home since moving here in 1978 with my husband. We have three children; our youngest will graduate from high school this year.

As an Educational Administrator at Olympic College, I oversee the Cooperative Education and Internship Program, whose mission is to assist students with "connecting education to work"? by participating in work-based learning experiences related to their major for academic credit. I have more than 20 years of marketing and project management experience. Over the years, I have enjoyed collaborating and establishing partnerships with businesses, schools and organizations to promote education and employment opportunities. To this end, I have co-published a community newspaper, the Kitsap Chronicle.

Originally, from Cleveland, Ohio, my first recollection of going to a library is one of great excitement. I would walk to the library with my sister and cousins instead of taking the city bus, saving our pocket money to buy a treat on the way home. We loved to read about far away places and used our imaginations to take adventures that were not in the family budget.

Libraries have always been, and continue to provide us all with a wealth of information and resources. I believe in the mission of Kitsap Regional Library, and value the contributions libraries make in the areas of education and literacy. More specifically, I am extremely impressed and excited about the literacy efforts the library is working on with the school districts.

Highly Recommend Library Services:
I encourage others to explore the Research Databases available at today's modern library. It is easier than ever to use library resources, thanks to online access. For those without access to a computer, the Library has them for you.

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Althea Paulson

I was a corporate attorney in New York City and Seattle before I left the practice of law to raise my three sons. I am now a writer and have published poetry, magazine articles and essays. My first book, Novice at the Hearth, is a memoir about family life. I've been a storyteller for over a decade and I'm active in community service on Bainbridge Island.

I recently home schooled one of my sons for the last half of eighth grade. We decided to study world history and literature in the late Middle Ages and I went to KRL almost every day. I was so excited about the books I brought home with subjects as diverse as Japanese art, Arab poetry, European cathedrals and pre-Renaissance philosophy, I ended up spending twice as much time educating myself as I did teaching my son. Both of us still talk about how much we learned that semester, and much of it was from the books and data bases at the library.

I believe that, public libraries collect and preserve a civilization's cultural, political, philosophical and scientific heritage, as well as nourish its future. They provide access to the wealth of our world's knowledge and information to all patrons, to rich and poor, young and old, to families who have lived in their communities for generations and those who arrived yesterday. They provide opportunity to everyone to learn and understand not only the subjects that interest them, but also divergent points of view. I think libraries are an essential part of an educated, creative and open-minded community and I'm very proud to serve as a trustee for KRL.

Highly recommended library services:

I recommend the Kitsap Reads program, which is always interesting and thought provoking. For book fiends like me, though, nothing beats a couple of hours just roaming the stacks and browsing any and all the books that happen to catch my eye.

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John Lyall

I was raised on a large orange grove in Southern California where my family always made sure I had plenty of reading material. I have always been interested in libraries, and as an undergraduate at the University of California, Humboldt, I became a student assistant at the University Library. Libraries have always intrigued me, my experience there allowed me to help people and exposed me to areas I hadn’t considered before; it really broadened my learning experience.

I went on to earn a M.A. in English from California Western University, and a M.A. in Public Administration at the University of Puget Sound in 1976. I count myself very lucky to have spent 20 years as the personnel director at Seattle Public Library. It was an immensely rewarding experience and reinforced my view that libraries are exciting places to be.

I have been a Kitsap County resident for the past 18 years. I wanted to serve on the Kitsap Regional Library Board of Trustees because of my lifelong interest in libraries. I truly believe that libraries are committed to preserve and promote free access to information.

We need to let the general public know what libraries are, what they do, and all the services they provide.  Libraries are amazing! They are so much more than books. Libraries are a portal to the world so much knowledge is at your fingertips with the amazing Research Databases available. And it’s available to everyone free of charge.

Highly Recommended Service:

The e-resources that Kitsap Regional Library provides. E-information is the way to the future, and KRL is taking the lead in offering electronic services to Kitsap County. We are serving our communities today, and creating libraries for future generations.

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Gail Mathison

I have always been an enthusiastic reader and a lover of libraries. As a young girl in the midwest, visiting the library and checking out books was a highlight of my childhood. I was a "flashlight under the covers" reader and loved the fabulous adventures that I could participate in while reading great books. My high school job was in the Minot Public Library where I served as a page and bookmobile librarian. Fond memories abound about those early library days.

Later as an educator in Kitsap County I have been a strong proponent of literacy and libraries. Many of life's greatest experiences begin in the library.

Currently, I am a retired educator. I was a teacher and administrator for many years in South Kitsap and ended my career as an administrator in Bremerton - Principal of Kitsap Lake Elementary School. After that career, I served others with Western Washington University as an instructor and supervisor of future teachers. I am now retired from education and love serving on the KRL Board of Trustees and helping my grandchildren (and others) become wonderful literate people.

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