Cornwall Library's Volunteers

Terry Carlson Terry has been a volunteer at the Library for several years particularly assisting Children's Librarian, Amy Buck.with the Children's program. She volunteers at the Library twice a week. Terry was a teacher for 33 years, teaching Title I reading at CCS for the last two years of her teaching career.She loves to read of course and considers herself an eclectic reader but mostly reads fiction. Hobbies include gardening and working outdoors (she loves to mow her own lawn) and knitting. She is also on the board of the Child Center, her "other love." Terry has three children and three grandchildren and has lived in Cornwall for 40 years.
Joan Edler Joan has been a volunteer at the Cornwall Free Library for three years. In addition to helping out at the check out desk Joan offers a knitting class on Saturday mornings to childernand adults. When she is not helping out at the Library, Joan runs FISH, a group of community volunteers who assist people whoare unable to drive themselves to get to their doctor's appointments. She likes to garden and work outside and has been painting since the early 1980s. Joan also likes "good" books. Two of her recent favorites were The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and Two Old Women by Velma Wallis.
Deirdre Fischer Next to husband Adam and their three kids, Deirdre loves books and libraries. She claims (and we believe her!) that she is more at home checking out books at the front desk and shelving returns than “any other place on this earth.”
Rose Frith When Rose isn’t volunteering at the Library she is working for the Cartus Corporation of Danbury and its “Cartus—Save the Children Committee” which is trying to raise enough money to build a school in Sudan for Darfur refugees. The target date is 2010 and you can learn more by going to schoolinsudan.org.
Charlotte Frost Charlotte, Denny, their kids and pets lived around the corner from the library on School Street for 43 years until Charlotte and Denny moved to her parents homestead across the Housatonic in 2000. Before retiring she taught dyslexic students at the Forman School in Litchfield and Marvelwood in Cornwall.
Nan Frost Cornwall’s favorite flute player (the “Pied Piper of School Street”) Nan is a veteran volunteer who is currently editing the library newsletter.
Janet Gold Janet spent 35 years as a public school librarian in Pennsylvania before she and Jim retired to Cornwall where they spent their summers. She led the library board as its chairman for several years and loves the opportunity to work with books.
Ben Gray Ben says: “It is a joy to be part of this cooperative library community where I can find encouraging new ideas stimulating transformative perceptions. I am particularly delighted with the creative and thoughtful people who come together in a caring and sharing environment.” Ben goes on: “I follow macroeconomics, markets and geopolitical issues but love these hills and the stillness within.”
Pam Jones Pam has been a volunteer at the Library for seven years. In her former life, she worked as an airline stewardess for 30 years. Needless to say, she loves to travel. Skiing and playing tennis are other interests. Pam shares her time between Cornwall and New York City where theycatch up on museums, the theater and meet friends for dinner. She reads "a little bit of everything" but particularly likes mysteries and biographies. One of her recent favorites was Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. Pam is also a new member of the Library Board of Trustees.
Ellen Moon For the last 10 years Ellen Moon has been the art curator at the Library. She enjoys arranging shows for the wonderful variety of artists in Cornwall and hopes to meet them all eventually, though that will take at least another 10 years. An artist herself, she works in fiber, creating elaborately embroidered coats and also building masks and costumes for the Grumbling Gryphons Traveling Children’s Theater. She can often be sighted along the byways of Cornwall, painting her daily watercolor.
Sybil Perry Sybil arrived in the northwest Corner with her husband John and their three sons in 1992. They moved to Cornwall four years ago. She is both a wonderful artist (painter) and a professional garden designer http://www.sybilmperry.com. Sybil is a native of Wisconsin where she worked as an editor of children's books after graduating from college. She is currently reading and recommending Charles Burchfield's Journal: The Poetry of Place.
Kathleen Roche Kathleen is a new volunteer at the Cornwall Free Library. She has lived in Cornwall for fouryears, works part-time as a dentist with the dental practice of Dr. Bird in Canaan. Becoming a librarian was a youthful aspiration. Hobbies include reflexology and gardening. Kathleen reads mostly non-fiction especially books about integrative health care and Chinese medicine. The book she is currently reading is Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan.
Lisa Lansing Simont Lisa was chairman of the Library’s Board between 1997 and 2002 and provided a lot of the muscle that led the effort to build our beautiful new home. She has been volunteering in the children’s room since retiring as Cornwall’s finance director.
Frances Taliaferro (pronounced “Toliver”) Franny taught English for many years at the Brearley School in New York and you might have read her book reviews in such publications as The New York Times, Harper’s magazine, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal. She has been a member of the Library’s book selection committee since 1990.
Janet Walker Janet has come back to her roots after a long career singing those wonderful mezzo roles in the opera houses of Germany. Volunteering at the library is one way she can catch up on some of the books she missed during those 35 years. She calls it her “second career.”