Sarah is the former Executive Director of Portland Public Library, the largest urban library system in Maine. She serves as an educational leader on steering committees for three cross-sector initiatives -- Portland ConnectEd (cradle to career) and Thrive 2027 Education Goal Cabinet, and as Chair for Leadership Portland. She also serves on the Boards of Maine Infonet and the Urban Libraries Council (North America), as well as on the Maine Library Commission (ex officio) and as a delegate to OCLC’s Global Council (since 2011). Sarah holds her Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Michigan and Bachelor degree from Swarthmore College.
Sarah has worked in libraries since 1996, and in adult and professional education management before that. She is dedicated to the transformational impact of the public library as a safe and welcoming shared public resource, serving communities so all can be literate, informed, and engaged. This is done through numerous partnerships that knit community assets and expertise together, as exemplified by the partnership between PPL and Illustration Institute.
“As a public library, we’re always pursuing ways to engage people around books, reading and storytelling in all its forms, so collaborating closely with illustrators to celebrate their art has been extremely rewarding. Illustration Institute’s artists-in-residence have engaged and delighted large, intergenerational audiences in our Rines Auditorium and through small, intimate workshops with young children in partnership with our Children’s Library and at our branch on Peaks Island. We see our relationship with the Illustration Institute as one of our most rewarding and collaborative partnerships.”
