Meet the Board of Directors and Staff

The Friends of UW-Madison Libraries is governed by a Board of Directors, all of whom are volunteers. They come from many walks of life but share a love for libraries. Monthly board meetings are held during the regular school year. One part-time administrator supports the board, works with committees, and assists with the implementation of programs developed by the Board.

2023-2024 Board of Directors

JOSHUA  CALHOUN, immediate Past President of the Friends, is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Teaching Award. He specializes in Shakespeare, 16th- & 17th-century poetry, and the history of media. He also teaches occasional courses in the environmental humanities and is a Faculty Affiliate at the Nelson Institute’s Center for Culture, History, and the Environment (CHE). In his teaching and research, he gets to explore three things he loves (and thinks everyone else should love, too): Shakespeare, old books, & nature.

MICHAEL CHAIM was in the book business for almost 25 years and books continue to be an interest and passion for him. His involvement in the Friends provides him with an opportunity to support the Libraries’ goal of making the knowledge of the campus libraries available to the scholarly community and the general public. Michael states, “I also benefit from the Libraries because they give me the opportunity to read long out-of-print books, hear rare recordings, and experience many other treasures of the Libraries.” He thoroughly enjoys working with an organization that advocates for this incredible institution.

JOHN DILLON  Formerly European Humanities Bibliographer at Memorial Library, John retired from the UW–Madison Libraries in August 2012 as Distinguished Academic Librarian Emeritus. He continues to have a scholarly interest in aspects of medieval and early modern literary writing in Latin. The campus libraries are important to him as a scholar because their collections and services offer irreplaceable assistance in his scholarly work. And they are important to him as a citizen inasmuch as they constitute an extraordinary public resource supporting higher learning and discovery across a great multitude of disciplines. John is involved with the Friends of the Libraries because it provides him an opportunity to continue service on behalf of the remarkable libraries at UW–Madison.

ERIC ELY-LEDESMA is a life-long lover of books (in all their evolving forms). Some of his earliest memories are of his dad pulling him in a wagon to visit the public library in Beaver Dam, WI, his hometown. Fast forward twenty years and, upon graduating with a B.A. in history from UW-Madison, he had to make a career choice and decided to continue his studies in the Information School. He completed his PhD at UW-Madison and graduated in May 2023. Eric is currently a Research Administrative Specialist and Teaching Faculty in the iSchool at UW-Madison. While his research focuses on academic libraries, his love of all types of libraries contributes to his desire to support the Friends and campus libraries.

JIM FLEMING has loved books and libraries for as long as he can remember. He has fond associations with the Carnegie Libraries of his youth and of all the time he spent in the stacks at the UW Memorial Library when he was a student. He has worked at Wisconsin Public Radio where for twenty-five years was the host of the Peabody Award winning program To the Best Our Knowledge. He has recorded books for WPR’s longest running program Chapter A Day for almost forty years, and hosted other programs including the morning classical music on WPR. He counts himself fortunate to have been able to make a career out of something he loves.

KEN FRAZIER is the director emeritus of the UW–Madison Libraries and continues to be a strong supporter of Wisconsin’s academic and public libraries. The Libraries, together with the Wisconsin Historical Society Library, are important to him because they serve as our state’s deepest resource for people who have scholarly, historical, or scientific interests. “I’m a member of the Friends because I’ve seen what a difference it makes when a university community has a great library and library services. At the end of the day, we in the Friends are ‘book people’ and whatever technological format books may have in the future . . . we know that reading and the ‘printed word’ can transform a person’s world at all stages of life.”

CHARLES JAMES is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction and the Department of German. His primary work at UW-Madison was in the preparation of teachers at the pre-collegiate level (K-12) in languages other than English, primarily German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Latin. He worked extensively with colleagues in the Teacher Education Library to assist students in creating teaching portfolios and related classroom teaching materials. Since retiring in 2016, he has done archival work at the Max Kade Institute for German American Studies researching German-languages periodicals from the early decades of the 20th century. He practically grew up in libraries, having worked during his high school years at the Catholic Community Library and during his undergraduate years at the Linda Hall Library of Science and Technology, both in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. James believes libraries are an essential part of every community.

KATHRYN JONES, the current board treasurer, is the registrar at the UW Zoological Museum (UWZM). She maintains and manages information concerning those collections and she prepares accession records for animals which come to the Museum from research programs, Department of Natural Resources, or local zoos. She also works with the UWZM Galapagos Collection and makes regular trips to those islands. Kathryn is an avid gardener and maintains a beautiful residence in Stoughton. She has served on the Friends board since 2009. Kathryn values the importance of accessible and comprehensive scholarly collections whether they are skeletons or books.

RICH LEFFLER is an editor emeritus of the Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution at UW–Madison, which publishes all of the debates that took place over ratifying the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in 1787–1791. The UW Libraries are important to him because his academic life has consisted of research that is made possible on this campus by the magnificent collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society and Memorial Library. Rich became involved with the Friends because, “It gives me an opportunity to give back to the Libraries all they have provided to me and to help during these fiscally challenging times.”

LAURA MONAHAN, the current vice president of the Friends, is the Curator of Collections at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Zoological Museum. Laura has a bachelors degree in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a masters degree in Anthropology with a focus in Archaeology and a minor in Museum Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.  After training at the Milwaukee Public Museum, she worked at the San Diego Natural History Museum for a couple of years, before returning to Madison for a position at the Zoological Museum in 2006. In addition to her responsibilities as curator at the Museum, Laura also teaches a course entitled Introduction to Museum Studies in the Natural Sciences.  Laura sees libraries and museums as having similar goals and opportunities, and she considers them to be integral to teaching and learning.  As an essential part of the Zoological Museum, she has encouraged expansion of the small specialist library serving that organization and their students of biological systematics.

SIMONE MUNSON is currently the Records Manager for the Madison Police Department. Before working for the City of Madison, she was an archivist and librarian for the Wisconsin Historical Society. During her time at the Wisconsin Historical Society, she was a Reference Archivist as well as the Collection Development Coordinator and Head of Acquisitions for the library and archives collections. Throughout her career, Simone has seen the important role that libraries play in government transparency as well as the freedom of information, two foundational tenets of democracy. Simone is involved with the Friends of the Library to continue to advocate for the strong collections and research of the UW-Madison Libraries. 

RICK PIFER retired in 2015 as Director of Public Services for the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Library and Archives after 35 years as an archivist and librarian. In addition, he taught archival methods for 22 years at the UW-Madison’s School of Library and Information Studies. Now, as a freelance historian he takes great pleasure in using the resources of the UW Libraries and the Wisconsin Historical Society, two of the greatest libraries in the nation. Recently he has focused on the Wisconsin experience during World War I. Dr. Pifer is the author of The Great War Comes To Wisconsin: Sacrifice, Patriotism and Free Speech in a Time of Crisis (2017), as well as A City at War: Milwaukee Labor During World War II (2003).

SOPHIE PITMAN is the Pleasant Rowland Textile Specialist and Research Director of the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection, based at the Center for Design and Material Culture in the School of Human Ecology. Sophie has a PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, and her work on textiles and material culture spans many disciplines – from history of art, design and literature to history of science. In her work on reconstructing early modern textiles, she often turns to UW Madison’s remarkable ‘books of secrets’ collection. Sophie enjoys collaborating with colleagues across campus to share and develop best practice for working with university collections, as well as hosting visits for students, faculty, staff, and the wider community to the 13,000+ strong textile collection. A dedicated user of libraries and special collections for her own research projects, Sophie advocates for their use and support for the benefit of the whole UW community and in the development of high-impact scholarship and exhibitions. 

MARIA SAFFIOTTI DALE is the current President of the Friends. She has recently retired from her position as curator of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts at the Chazen Museum of Art at UW–Madison. Maria has an expertise in medieval and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts and a passion for old books. “Understanding how books were made—the archaeology of the book—can lead to a better understanding of history and culture.” Maria believes that the Libraries play a crucial role in preserving that history and the Friends help support campus libraries in this important mission.

DEBRA SHAPIRO is a graduate of the School of Library & Information Studies at UW-Madison (now the iSchool) and has been an instructor at the School since 2000, first teaching continuing education courses and teaching in the Masters program since 2005. Prior to library school Shapiro was a screen printer and textile artist. As a graduate student she pursued interests in paper preservation, art libraries, photo archives, and worked in the Memorial Library Conservation Lab with Jim Dast. Debra’s teaching areas include website design, organization of information, digitization of cultural heritage materials, and photo archives. She writes a blog at debslunch.com that features food and photography of food. As a long time UW employee, Debra supports the Friends work to steward the rich collections in UW-Madison Libraries and has come to agree with Jim Dast, who always says there’s nothing like opening a box of books.

ERIN SKARIVODA (student representative) is in her first year of library school at UW-Madison’s iSchool. After earning her BA in English at UW-Eau Claire, she worked at various nonprofits before moving to Madison and working in the UW Sociology department. Erin has always been a bookworm who enjoys the time she spends in libraries while reading, studying, volunteering, working, and relaxing. After earning her MA LIS, she plans to find a job in a public library. Erin is excited to provide a student perspective to the Board and bring fresh, first-year energy to its projects. 

SUSAN STRAVINSKI is a retired librarian, after a 42 year career in cataloging and Special Collections at UW-Madison Memorial Library. Her relationship with libraries began at Eager Free Public Library in Evansville, Wisconsin, when she was old enough to print her name on a library card. After graduating from UW-Madison with an English degree and then from Library School, Susan became a cataloger for the Rare books Department, later renamed Special Collections. She worked with and handled the incredible materials housed there, from early and modern printed books and manuscripts to archival collections and other formats. She enjoyed assisting students and scholars with their work and observing the many ways they could interpret written and printed materials. “What is impressive about UW Libraries is the range of materials and knowledge across all of the campus libraries. I feel honored to be a part of the Friends, supporting the Libraries.”

MARG SUMNER found her love of books at age 6 when her Grandma Sumner allowed Marg to check out books for patrons of the Stoughton (WI) Public Library. Her career plans were upended a few years later when her father sold his weekly newspaper and printing company without consulting her. Her career came into focus when she began freelance copyediting and proofreading, which she did for 45 years. Marg’s passion for books led her to a Master’s degree in Typography from the University of Reading (UK) when she was 47. (One of her professors spoke at a Friends dinner in the late ‘80s.) She’s been a member of the Friends for much of the last 45 years.

IRENE ZIMMERMAN retired from the UW-Madison Libraries in 2014 as Senior Academic Librarian Emeritus. She spent 36 years in the library system in a number of positions, the last being Acting Assistant Director for Technical Services and Collections. Irene knew she was destined to be involved and committed to academic libraries and librarianship by the time she was a senior in high school. The collections at UW-Madison are among the best in the country, and are worthy to be supported so that scholars worldwide can pursue their research needs and students have access to resources to promote their higher education goals.

Meet the staff

Libby Theune, the Friends administrator, has a degree in social work and practical experience in libraries. She worked a decade in international adoption and then a dozen years in public libraries in Colorado. While coordinating adult and senior programming for the library, she experienced the support of a tremendous Friends organization and appreciates the impact an active group can have on both their libraries and their communities. She loves summertime, book groups, travel, and the intellectually stimulating environment of the UW-Madison campus.