Commissioners

Vicky Biancolo was appointed to the Board by Governor Charles D. Baker in 2020.

Biancolo is the Director of Library Services at Worcester Academy. Library leadership roles she has held include executive board member of the Western Massachusetts Regional Library System, executive board member of the Massachusetts School Library Association, and member of the transition team and founding executive board of the Massachusetts Library System. She has served as a judge for the Massachusetts Book Award and as a tester for Kent State University's online Tool for Real-Time Assessment for Information Literacy Skills.

Before launching her library career, Biancolo's work in service includes Assistant Director for State Legislation for the Brady Campaign in Washington, D.C., homeless caseworker for the American Red Cross, and Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, West Africa.

Biancolo received her MLIS from Simmons College, School of Library and Information Science, and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in Government from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Committees: Executive, Budget

Katherine (Kate) Chang of Somerville was appointed to the Board by Governor Maura Healey in 2024.

Commissioner Chang is the Vice President of Community & Government Relations at Pine Street Inn in Boston. She previously worked as a District Representative for former Congressman Michael Capuano and as a Policy Analyst at the US Department of Transportation focused on federal policies and programs on regional transportation. Commissioner Chang also has extensive experience working on political campaigns and as an independent consultant advising on legislative and advocacy strategies.

Ms. Chang currently serves on the boards of Reproductive Equity Now (formerly NARAL ProChoice MA) and Grinnell Museum and is a Trustee at the Charles River Alliance of Boaters.

Ms. Chang earned her M.A. in Public Policy and M.A. in Asian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and is a graduate of Grinnell College with a B.A. in History.

Committees: Public Relations

Timothy Cherubini of Williamstown was appointed to the Board by Governor Maura Healey in 2024. His career in libraries encompasses over 30 years and includes experience in academic libraries, regional and national library networks and consortia, and library focused non-profits.

Commissioner Cherubini is currently the Vice Chair on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Foundation, and recently served as a library trustee at the Milne Public Library, and on the State Advisory Council on Libraries to the MBLC. He is also an executive advisor for EveryLibrary Institute, a non-profit working to ensure continued public support for libraries.

Cherubini began his career as an academic librarian serving in various positions at Duke University, Emory University and Ohio State University. In 2014 he was appointed as the first Executive Director of the Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA). He has also previously served on the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Center for the Book.

Mr. Cherubini holds a Master of Library Science and Master of Music from Indiana University, and a certificate in Academic Library Leadership from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He is a member of the Massachusetts Library Association, New England Library Association, American Library Association, and the American Society of Association Executives.

Committees: Executive, Budget
Liaison: Massachusetts Library Association (MLA), Massachusetts Library System (MLS)

George T. Comeau, Esq. was first appointed to the MBLC by Governor Mitt Romney in 2004 and reappointed by Governor Deval Patrick in 2007 and again in 2013. He served as Board Chair during FY 2009 and FY 2010. Commissioner Comeau returned to the MBLC in 2021 with an appointment by Governor Charlie Baker and was reappointed in 2023 by Governor Maura Healey.

Comeau currently serves as the Chairman of the Trustees of the Canton Public Library. Comeau is a columnist for the Canton Citizen and serves on the town's Building Renovation Committee working toward structural upgrades and renovations at the Canton Public Library. Commissioner Comeau is also a historian and preservationist, serving as President and Curator of the Canton Historical Society, and serves on Canton's Community Preservation Committee.

Comeau brings his passion for libraries and expertise in law, marketing and branding, non-profit leadership, and governance to the Board of Library Commissioners. Commissioner Comeau produces and supports destination events and visitor experiences at the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. Comeau is a founding catalyst of the Innovation Trail in Boston. He also maintains a private law practice in Canton, and is an avid hiker and traveler.

Commissioner Comeau has both a BS and a MPA from Suffolk University, as well as his JD from Suffolk University Law School.

Committees: Construction

Debby Conrad of Marshfield was appointed to the Board by Governor Charles D. Baker in 2020. Her career in libraries spans 40 years and includes extensive work in the areas of automation of library services and resource sharing.

She served as the Executive Director of the SAILS Library Network for 29 years. Prior to that she was the Assistant Administrator for the Eastern Massachusetts Regional Library System and was the first Systems Consultant for the Lincoln Trail Libraries System which served public, K-12, and academic libraries in Illinois.

She served on a number of committees including Secretary of the Massachusetts Library Association (MLA), co-chair of the Massachusetts Statewide Delivery committee, co-chair of the MLA Long Range Planning Committee, Chair of the National Information Standards Organization Committee LL – Exchange of Circulation Systems Data, and served as the first Chairperson of the Illinois Automation Committee.

Retired in 2018, she is currently Membership Chair of the Friends of the Ventress Memorial Library and continues to be active in MLA.

Ms. Conrad received her M.S. in Library Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with an emphasis on Systems Planning and Implementation. She received her A.B. from Indiana University with a concentration in Russian Studies.

Committees: Resource Sharing, State Aid to Public Libraries
Liaison: Consumer Advisory Board: Braille and Talking Book Library

Joyce Linehan of Dorchester was appointed to the Board by Governor Maura Healey in 2023. She formerly served as a Trustee of the Boston Public Library.

Linehan is the Assistant to the President for Special Projects at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She serves on the boards of the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Interim House in Dorchester, Trustees of Charitable Donations for Inhabitants of Boston and on the advisory boards of the Max Warburg Courage Curriculum and the Rappaport Institute.

She formerly served as the Chief of Policy and Planning for the City of Boston, in the office of Mayor Martin J. Walsh. Before her time at the City of Boston, she was the director of Ashmont Media and was previously the Vice President of A & R for Sub Pop Records where she managed several bands and musicians.

Ms. Linehan holds a B.A. and an M.A. in American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Committees: Construction

Karen Traub of Shutesbury was appointed to the Board by Governor Charles D. Baker in 2021.

Throughout her career, Commissioner Traub has worked to expand library accessibility, locally advocating to increase library staff, hours and budget and serving on the committee that made the Shutesbury library handicapped accessible.

Traub took a leadership role in planning for a new Shutesbury library urging the town to put aside a yearly $10,000-$25,000 toward the anticipated project. She sponsored a region wide “Revitalizing your Friends Group” roundtable and a community visioning party with a chocolate fountain and chaired the Library Facility Needs Assessment Committee which held listening and information sessions. She assisted in writing the MBLC construction grant applications which resulted in Shutesbury being awarded a planning and design grant in 2007 totaling $40,000 and provisional construction grant totaling more than $2 million in 2011. Traub also chaired the fundraising committee which brought in pledges of over $100,000 from all over the world.

Commissioner Traub served as a Library Trustee in Wendell from 1997-2000, and in Shutesbury from 2002-2012. She served on the MBLC’s State Advisory Council of Libraries from 2014-2020. A graduate of the Newport MFA, Traub holds an M.Ed. from Cambridge College, and a B.A. from McGill University.

Committees: Executive, Budget
Liaison: Massachusetts Center for the Book (MCB), Massachusetts Friends of Libraries (MFOL), Massachusetts Library Trustee Association (MLTA)

Jessica V. Vilas Novas of Lawrence was appointed to the Board by Governor Charles D. Baker in 2022. She formerly served as Director of the Lawrence Public Library where she was successful in increasing the budget, creating new positions, reopening the Library on weekends, removing Library fines, and advocating for capital projects which would make the Library more accessible. While Director, she served on the Executive Board of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, State Advisory Council on Libraries and the MBLC's Public Relations Committee.

Commissioner Vilas Novas is the founder and principal at JVN Solutions where her focus is on developing organizations by strengthening their operations and teams. She currently serves as an advisor for the Essex County Community Foundation's digital equity coalition, committee member for the Greater Lawrence Community and Greater Lawrence Summer Funds, and is the former Board Chair of Elevated Thought Inc., a social justice arts based youth serving organization in Lawrence. A community builder and advocate for the arts and literacy, she founded and led an intergenerational writing program, The Common Sage, welcoming hundreds of participants over the years including a partnership with Judge Newman and the Lawrence Juvenile Court.

Ms. Vilas Novas earned her MLIS from Simmons College, M.Ed in Community Engagement from Merrimack College and a Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University. She earned a Certificate in Social Impact Management from the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, in affiliation with Tufts University's Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and is a member of the LEADS network after graduating from their executive leadership program hosted by the Lawrence Partnership and supported by Harvard Business School through visiting lecturers.

When she is not engaging in community activities, Ms. Vilas Novas enjoys traveling and enjoying the arts with her husband and children.

Liaison: State Advisory Council on Libraries (SACL)