A total of 5 individuals serving rotating volunteer five-year terms comprise the library’s Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees focuses on setting library policy and meets with the library director on a monthly basis, usually at 3 pm on the second Tuesday of each month in the library’s meeting room.
Current Trustees:
Barbara Sharp
President
As a new trustee as of January 2020, I am delighted to be part of our outstanding library. I have lived on the island since 2002.
I am a retired attorney with a BA degree from Miami University (Ohio) and a JD degree from BYU Law School. I have worked as a judicial clerk for an appellate court judge; staff attorney with the Workers' Compensation Fund of Utah; and an attorney in the Bellingham Regional office of the Washington Attorney General.
After I retired, I spent five years on the Friends of the Library board and later served as a Commissioner on the Public Hospital District #1 from 2016-2018. Currently I am active in Soroptimist International of Friday Harbor and the League of Women Voters board.
Becki Day
Vice President
Becki Day fell in love with the San Juan Islands in high school when she came for vacation every summer. In 1990 she made the move and worked out at Roche Harbor and Downriggers for many years before starting her own business. Eventually she and her good friend bought a restaurant. She has been a Soroptimist for over 20 years, serving on their Board of Directors for 9 years. She served on the United Way Board and the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce until 2015, when she was hired to run the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce as the Executive Director. She is honored to serve on this Board of Trustees and says her dedication to the library she inherited from her late mother.
Boyd Pratt
Secretary
Boyd C. Pratt was born in the (then) Territory of Hawaii at Kapiolani Hospital—the birthplace of President Obama! He went to St. John’s College in Santa Fe and graduate school in architecture at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In addition to farming and working at the Library as the Adult Programs Associate, he has recorded barns and other historic structures and researched local history, publishing histories of lime making, farming, and fishing in the islands. Favorite authors include Jane Austen, Herman Melville, and Fyodor Dostoevsky; music Gregorian chant and jazz; and then there are all those zombie movies…
Karen Vedder
Trustee
Karen Vedder has had a San Juan Island Library card since 1974. Since arriving on the island she has worked as a biologist, newspaper reporter and attorney. She spent over a decade in the prosecutor’s office where she helped county departments accomplish their missions of serving the citizens of San Juan County. She hopes to use that experience in being part of a team of trustees whose goal it is to provide an exemplary library to everyone on San Juan Island.
Paul Peterson
Trustee
My wife Andrea and I visited the islands in 2012 and fell in love immediately. For the next 6 years, we worked and prepared for a move here, finally making it out in 2018. After graduating from the University of Minnesota, I became a mathematician and Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. I have worked in the finance industry for over 15 years and currently lead a remote team of actuaries in my capacity as Appointed Actuary at American National Insurance. Andrea is a business-owner on the island and produces beautiful handmade favors for weddings. I joined the Library Board because I wanted to use my math skills to benefit the community.