NEWS RELEASE

The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) elected new officers to serve for FY2024 at its Board Meeting on July 13, 2023.

The Board elected Commissioner Debby Conrad as Board Chair for the second time. Ms. Conrad was appointed to the Board in December 2020 by Governor Baker. Her library career spans more than 40 years, most notably as Executive Director of the SAILS library network which boasts membership from more than 70 publicly funded school, academic and public libraries in 38 communities. She was inducted to the Massachusetts Library Association’s Hall of Fame in 2014. She serves on the MBLC’s Resource Sharing Committee and State Aid to Public Libraries Committee. She is also the MBLC Liaison to the Massachusetts Library System (MLS) and the State Advisory Council on Libraries (SACL).

Commissioner Vicky Biancolo was elected to serve as Vice Chair. Appointed by Governor Baker in 2020, Ms. 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 (MSLA), and member of the transition team and founding executive board of the Massachusetts Library System. She is currently a board liaison to the SACL.

Commissioner Karen Traub of Shutesbury was elected to serve as Secretary. She 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 served on the committee that made the Shutesbury library handicapped accessible. Commissioner Traub also took a leadership role in planning for a new Shutesbury library, planning fundraisers and spearheading the needs assessment. She has served as a library trustee in both Wendell and Shutesbury. She currently serves on the MBLC Public Relations Advisory Committee and is board liaison to the Massachusetts Center for the Book, the Massachusetts Friends of Libraries, and the Massachusetts Library Trustee Association.

The elected positions of Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary form the Executive Committee of the MBLC. The Executive Committee is elected every July by the board and hold their office for one year. Commissioners can serve for two successive one-year terms in any office, and after one year are eligible for election again.

Established in 1890, the MBLC was the first state library commission in the United States. The nine-member, volunteer Commission is appointed by the Governor. The MBLC supports statewide programming and innovation in libraries to ensure equal access to library services for every resident in the Commonwealth.