About

We’re the Wellesley Free Library Foundation

The Wellesley Free Library Foundation is a private, 501(c)(3) corporation supporting the mission of the Wellesley Free Library. Our goal is to enrich, not replace, traditional tax-based support for the Library through gifts, grants, and bequests from individuals and organizations, while reinforcing the need for continued and increased public support for the Library. The Foundation spearheads major fundraising efforts to bridge the gap between the community’s aspirations for its library and assets available from municipal budgets.

Library exterior with statues

Our Impact

In recent years, approximately 15-20% of the Library’s budget has come from private fundraising, all of which is used to enhance our library in ways that town dollars cannot provide.

Current funding initiatives include: Support of programs and equipment in the Jackie’s Room Technology Education Lab; School Outreach; Wellesley ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages); and the Fells Branch Library.

Our History

The Wellesley Free Library Foundation was established by the Library Trustees in 2008 to serve as the main supporting organization of the Library. Working in partnership with the Library’s Administration and Trustees as well as its other supporting organization, the Friends of the Wellesley Free Libraries, The Library Foundation encourages private philanthropy on behalf of the Wellesley Free Library. This strong public/private partnership builds support for the many enriched opportunities and special endeavors, both current and future, that make the Wellesley Free Library such an outstanding community resource. 

FAQs

The Wellesley Free Library, originally established in 1883 through the generosity of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, is a traditional suburban public library. The main library and two branches provide lending materials, reference services, literacy support, and a wide range of community programs and training courses. The WFL is an integral part of the Wellesley community. The Library Trustees established The Wellesley Free Library Foundation in 2008 to serve as the main supporting organization of the Library. The sole purpose of The Library Foundation is to raise private funds from individuals and organizations to supplement core funding from tax dollars. These additional dollars help maintain the high level of service that the Wellesley community has come to expect from its Library.

Prudent use of funding from the Town allows the WFL to fulfill its basic mission — to provide free and convenient access to information. Most of the Library’s budget goes toward core services including salaries and operating costs, not programs or collections. Much of what you see, use, and borrow at the WFL is paid for with private donations — including programs, our enhanced collection, museum passes, the self-check machine, and more. There is no community resource as necessary to the growth of our citizens as the Wellesley Free Library, and no other institution that will benefit more from your support.

Your contribution is not only important — it is essential! The WFL is a critical community resource — our circulation and usage are extraordinarily high – more than 1000 patrons visit each day. Excellent library services are extremely important to the quality of life in Wellesley and while the tax impact budget covers many of the basic services offered at the library, over the past 5 years between 15-20% of the operating needs are met through private funding. The WFL is an extraordinary resource for each and every resident of Wellesley, and we need your help to keep the WFL the best library it can be.

The Library Foundation’s 990s are available on the IRS website

Organization name: WELLESLEY FREE LIBRARY FOUNDATION, INC.

EIN: 26-3194155

Our Board

Thank you to the individuals who commit their time and talent to the Wellesley Free Library Foundation.

Keith grew up in Florida but has called Massachusetts home since 1979. He has an undergraduate degree from Florida State University and a law degree from Boston University. He also has a master’s degree in history from the University of Virginia where he wrote his thesis on the development of the university library in 19th century America. He has practiced corporate and securities law at Ropes & Gray in Boston continuously since 1982, broken only by three and a half years during which he was Director of Corporation Finance at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. Keith also serves as Secretary and pro bono counsel to Upstream, an organization committed to expanding opportunity and reducing unplanned pregnancy across the United States.

Keith and his late wife Andrea moved to Wellesley in 1990 and raised two sons, both of whom went to Fiske Elementary School and one of whom graduated from Wellesley High School. Keith is an avid cyclist (having ridden a dozen times in the Pan Mass Challenge), a middling gardener, a mediocre golfer and a voracious and eclectic reader.

Mark grew up in New Hampshire but made the big move across the Massachusetts state line for college in 1989 and has been in the Bay State ever since. He has an undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross and an MBA & Masters in Accounting from Northeastern University. He is a practicing CPA who worked in public accounting at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, and in 2003 made the switch to the world of consulting. Since 2009 Mark has been in the forensic accounting practice at FTI Consulting, where his practice focuses on compliance with SEC reporting and technical accounting standards.

Mark and his wife Kerrie moved to Wellesley in 1999 and have two daughters, both of whom went to St. John’s Elementary School and are both currently at Newton Country Day School. Mark’s interests include traveling with his family, reading, golf and tennis.

Laurel has expertise in development, fundraising and database management and has been working in the non-profit sector for over 15 years. Earlier in her career, she worked for a large national regional mall developer as the Director of Human Resource Information Services. Laurel is active in community-based, non-profit organizations that work to improve the well-being and quality of life of the residents of Wellesley, Massachusetts. She has held several leadership positions on non-profit boards including President of the Eliot Montessori Board of Trustees, Chair of The Fund for Wellesley and President of Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club. At present, Laurel is Vice President for the Wellesley Service League and serves on the boards of the Wellesley Library Foundation and Wellesley Friendly Aid. Laurel earned both her BA in Sociology and her MBA from the University of Chicago.

Amiee Munro has lived in Wellesley since 2009 with her husband, Bill, and three boys who are currently students at WMS & WHS. A lifelong lover of the written word, Amiee spent
her early career in publishing, first as a Business Manager at Conde Nast and then in marketing and subsidiary rights at Little, Brown, Inc. and the Perseus Books Group. Currently, Amiee is a real estate agent with Donahue Maley | Burns Team
/ Compass, eager to share her knowledge and love of Wellesley with all potential residents.

An active community volunteer and fundraiser, Amiee has served as Fiske PTO President, Auction Chair, Wild West Chair and spent five years as a member of the Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club, including Community Outreach Chair, Wonder Run Chair and Nominating Committee Member. Currently, Amiee serves as the town wide Scouting for Food coordinator, on the WMS book fair committee, and the WHS Cotillion Committee. A
graduate of Connecticut College, Amiee resided in Washington DC, New York City and Boston before settling in Wellesley.

Alexa has lived in Wellesley since 2010 with her husband Robert and their three daughters Lucy (16), Molly (14) and Lila (12) who attend the Wellesley Public Schools. She would be remiss to not include additional family members Coco and Java, their two beloved chocolate labs.

Alexa spent a career in financial services and retired in 2017 after 14 years at Fidelity and prior stints at Charles Schwab and Franklin Templeton. After retiring from financial services, she joined a volunteer training program at the Museum of Fine Arts and now leads art tours across the collections, as well as participating in a number of other program activities.

Throughout her years in Wellesley, Alexa has remained active and committed to community. She has held or currently holds a Board or leadership position in the Wellesley Chapter of the National Charity League, the Wellesley Education Foundation and has been active in planning events for PTOs and neighborhood associations. Her family enjoys the Wellesley Free Library and she looks forward to participating in Board activities to help the library evolve to meet growing community demands.

A native of Kalamazoo, MI, Liz attended Boston College, receiving degrees in Biology and Economics. Professionally, her career in finance, including at Bank of Boston and Fidelity Investments Institutional Services, focused on specialized financing for multinational asset management and insurance companies globally. Presently, she is Principal of Snug Harbor Consulting, a financial consulting practice, and Managing Partner of Walker Snug Harbor, a multi-family investment partnership.

With the exception of two years in New York in the late 1990s, Liz has lived in Wellesley since 1986. She has two daughters in college who attended Sprague and graduated from Wellesley High School. Liz has spent countless hours at the Wellesley Free Library: story time at the Hills Branch; and at the main library in the play room, Wakelin room for recitals, and reading in the periodicals room between carpools.

Liz was actively involved in the Wellesley schools, holding leadership positions in Creative Arts & Sciences, Art Enrichment, Sprague Fields Task Force, WHS PTSO Volunteer Coordinator and Nominating Committee, and elected School Council member, and co-founder of Lessons in Leadership speaker series. Other Wellesley service activities included Wellesley Mothers Forum Treasury positions and Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club Economic Needs, Scholarships, and Donations Committees leadership roles. In 2019, Liz became a trustee of the Wellesley Scholarship Foundation. Beyond Wellesley, Liz has been an Advisor at WGBH since 2012 and sits on the Advisor Nominating, Emerging Media & Technologies and Ralph Lowell Society committees. Since 1996, Liz has served in various volunteer leadership positions at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston and is currently Vice-Chair of Membership for the Patron Program. Liz volunteered extensively with Junior League of Boston (recipient of Boston Bean Pot award for community volunteerism), Children’s Hospital Boston (Co-Chair Women in Medicine Committee), Brigham & Women’s Hospital (Advocate), and Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (Parent Board).

Catherine Simpson Bueker is Professor and Chair of Sociology at Emmanuel College in Boston, where she has taught for 15 years. She focuses on issues of race, ethnicity, immigration and civic engagement and has published books, chapters, essays, and peer-reviewed articles on those topics. Her books include From Immigrant to Naturalized Citizen (LFB Press 2006) and The Experiences of Women of Color in an Elite US Public School (Palgrave MacMillan 2017). Her articles have appeared in the journals The International Migration Review; Race, Ethnicity, and Education; The Journal of International Migration and Integration; and Contexts, among others. She has also published entries related to race and immigration in the Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Nationalism. Her current project focuses on the ways in which established Americans do or do not recognize and experience increasing diversity in their community. She has been a Visiting Scholar and Visiting Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Harvard University. Bueker holds a BA in American Studies from Cornell University and an MA and PhD in Sociology from Brown University.

Carol Carlson and her husband, Steve, moved to Wellesley in 2018 from Needham, where they lived for 16 years, after relocating from Texas. They have two adult daughters, Katie and Kristi.

Carol is a retired Audit and Accounting Partner from Ernst & Young, where she served clients for over 37 years. She serves on the Board of Directors for the National Life Group where she is a member of the Audit and Governance Committees. Carol is the Chair of the Finance Committee for Carter Memorial United Methodist Church. She is also a member of The Boston Club, the Wellesley Club, and the Boston Chapter of Women’s Corporate Directors. Carol also frequently volunteers with BostonCares. Carol graduated with highest distinction from the University of Iowa and is an avid reader. She enjoys boating and traveling with her family, and hiking with her husband and their dog, Cody.

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Bill Horn graduated from St. Lawrence University with a B.A. in Economics and has spent the past 30 years in Financial Services in various capacities at Fidelity, State Street, and First Angel Capital. Bill has been a Director of public companies including MFC Industrial and LMS Medical Systems. At LMS, he assumed the role of CEO/CFO during strategic transition phase. Currently, Bill serves as COO for the High Yield Capital Markets division at Citizens Capital Markets, a subsidiary of Citizens Bank.

Bill has lived in Wellesley for the past 10 years with his wife, Anne, and twin boys who attended Hunnewell Elementary School and Wellesley Middle School, and now attend Wellesley High School. Over the past seven years, Bill has also been active in Wellesley United Soccer Club coaching youth soccer and active on the WUSC Board.

Chrissie grew up in Wellesley and returned with her husband, John, in 1992 to raise their family here. Chrissie graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in English Literature and from the Wharton School of Business at UPenn with an MBA in Marketing. Chrissie began her career in Massachusetts as a Consumer Products Marketer with Gorton’s of Gloucester. After eight years, she switched gears and joined Rutledge Properties, the family real estate business owned by her mother. Ever since, Chrissie has been a leading agent in town. Pointing out what is outstanding about Wellesley – especially the Library – is an everyday activity for Chrissie as she welcomes new families to town.

Chrissie and John have four adult children, all of whom attended Hunnewell Elementary School and spent many hours at the Wellesley Free Library next door. Chrissie has served as a coach and President of Wellesley Youth Lacrosse and has cheered on innumerable Wellesley Youth and High School teams. She has served as a Town Meeting Member since 2009. Chrissie is a lifelong voracious reader, a member of multiple book groups, and plays as much tennis as possible.

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Linda received a BBA in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and continued with studies in Managerial Accounting at Harvard University. Linda has spent the majority of her career as a Sales and Management professional. She specializes in creating and managing high performing sales teams, market analysis, identifying new markets and opportunities and setting and achieving sales objectives within the engineering and construction, technology and aviation industries. She has worked for international companies such as Hilti and Bombardier as well as with technology start-ups.

Linda has served as an active volunteer at the Fiske Elementary School and Wellesley Middle School and continues to do so at The Rivers School in Weston. She has also served in various active roles as a volunteer with the Wellesley Mothers Forum and at The Hills Church in Wellesley.

Linda, her husband Shawn Herlihy and their three boys have lived in Wellesley since 2008.