Meet The Board

Susan Mosgofian Sheldon is from Natick, Massachusetts and has worked in libraries of all types since 1964. Susan moved from Colorado to Santa Fe with her husband and a newborn in 1988. She became a member of the Friends by buying a brick during the Southside campaign, got involved with book sales, and then the Board of Directors. Her experience gives her a unique insight into what library staff do every day for the community, and she firmly believes they are "unsung heroes!"

Newby decided to move to Santa Fe in 1986 and being an impulsive person, it only took him 34 years to become a full-time resident.  He started looking for community engagement/volunteer opportunities and the Friends seemed to be a great fit. Becoming the chair of the Finance Committee ties together a fond childhood memory of getting a library card as a six year old (his first official ID!), a long time association with adult literacy programs in the Pacific Northwest, a lifetime of reading (mostly non-fiction) and a 40+ year career in financial services.

Lillian Brisbois Letters developed a love of reading at an early age, visiting the local library with her mother and four sisters, starting when she was too small to see over the librarian's desk. Weekly visits to the library played an important part in her love of reading and understanding of the importance of books to a child's overall development. Ms. Letters and her husband moved to Santa Fe in 2007, after visiting annually starting in 1998. She has volunteered or worked in public schools for most of the past 40 years and is happy to share her experience as a member of the Friends Board.

As a nonprofit professional Joan has held leadership positions for several organizations across the country including the National Endowment for the Arts; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the Autry Museum in Los Angeles. She is former Executive Director of Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA, and the Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin. She has long supported education and literacy initiatives.

Gail Ansheles joined the Board in 2021. She is a retired teacher, a former school librarian
and has a background in communications and public relations. She currently serves on the Community Engagement Committee.

With a career as a foundation executive, Sue Coliton recently served as the Interim President and CEO of the Santa Fe Community Foundation. Her knowledge of the funding landscape in the cultural arena and experience with non-profits led her to the Friends. Previous interim CEO positions include ArtsFund and the Washington Research Foundation, in Seattle. She spent 15 years as head of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's philanthropic programs, where she oversaw regional, national and global grant-making programs through the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. 

After leaving her gubernatorial-appointed position in New Mexico State government, Zella turned her interest and attention to several non-profit organizations in Santa Fe that made her head and heart happy. The Friends of the Santa Fe Public Library was high on her list. She is proud to be affiliated with an organization that provides critical financial support to the Library and is glad that she can use her training, experience, and education in finance to further the Friends vital mission.

Lover of libraries, the community, words and their arrangements; Orthodox Christian; rock climber; lawyer; philosopher; occasionally: musician, photographer, writer; enthusiast of the natural world, origami, haiku, electronica, yoga, and Carl Jung.

Mark Galassi was born in Manhattan and grew up in France and Italy. He studied classics at the Liceo Classico Parini in Milan. He returned to the US in 1983 and earned his BA in physics from Reed College and a PhD from Stony Brook University with a thesis in General Relativity. He moved to Santa Fe in 1992 to work at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Space, Science and Applications Group. In 2019 Mark co-founded the Institute for Computing in Research which trains students for research in all areas of scholarship.

For Alex, visits to the Lyons Branch Library in Clinton, Iowa were a weekly treat, something he looked forward to with eager anticipation and for which he diligently planned. Drawn to Benny and his pink cup of the Boxcar Children series. He agonized, Eric Carle's Have You Seen My Cat in hand, the summer before his first-grade school year over his not yet knowing how to read. He now applies all he has and continues to learn through reading to public service, supporting non-profits throughout New Mexico to better their communities. Alex enjoys painting, dancing, and teaching his new puppy old tricks, often all at once.

Eve carried her love of libraries across the ocean from Kyiv, Ukraine. One of the first official documents she got was the New York Public Library Card! Many libraries later (regal Butler Library at Columbia University...less fun but oh so familiar Brooklyn Law School Library), Eve and her family are now proud members of the Santa Fe Public Library. Eve has over 20 years of experience in fixed income markets; she is portfolio manager for Thornburg Investment Management, an independent asset manager here in Santa Fe. Eve is happy to be able to share her time, energy, knowledge, love for books and for the people who read them on behalf of the Friends and the Santa Fe Public Library!

Leslie moved to Santa Fe from New York City in 2017. In New York, she had several marketing positions at both corporate and non-profit organizations and is a Professor Emerita at Marymount Manhattan College. Leslie joined the Friends Board in 2018.

Tamina is an IT professional who was previously a trustee for the Library Boards of Lafayette, Colorado and Madison, Virginia. She became a Friends Board Member in 2022 and lends her experience and expertise to both the Community Engagement and Development Committees. 

Dr. Michele Behar Reich has been a K-12 teacher, professor of education, and a youth services librarian. Her work has focused on improving educational attainment in under-resourced communities and schools. Her mother's first language was Ladino (Judeo-Spanish); her father's, Yiddish. Growing up she heard stories about the challenges they faced while learning to speak and read English, and then teaching those skills to their parents. Knowing personally the power of literacy, and understanding that power, she feels a responsibility to do whatever needs to be done to support literacy wherever and whenever she can.