PRESIDENT

Carolyn is originally from Colorado and became an East Coaster when she attended Hobart & William Smith College and never looked back. She started her post-college life working at an internet start-up in Portsmouth, NH.

One day, unhappy with her current job, she walked into Water Street Bookstore in Exeter, NH, and the rest, as they say, “is history.” She worked there for a year, then went on to manage the Book Rack in Newburyport for ten years. That was an amazing experience. From there, as she and her husband began to grow their family, she left the store and began her own company, You Are Here Books. She ran bookfairs for schools and various communities and supplied books for author events.

As her kids grew older, she returned to the mothership, Water Street Bookstore, where she is today. Meanwhile, she joined the board of the Friends of the Amesbury Public Library as a board member and ultimately took on the role as president.

She has two remarkable children, one in college at Dean in Franklin, MA, the other a senior at Governor’s Academy, and a husband, who recently retired from 35 years of teaching history at Haverhill High School.

Carolyn has always loved being around “Stacks” of books. She generally reads historical fiction, thrillers and horror and is always happy to offer unsolicited recommendations. She believe public libraries are a crucial part of any community, fostering curiosity and the constant pursuit of an enriched life; and Amesbury Public Library is just that.

VICE PRESIDENT

Jenna-Lee grew up in Amesbury and has always been an avid reader. She absolutely loves the library and she and her family have enjoyed its programming and events over the years. When the opportunity arose for her to volunteer to help the library thrive, she jumped at the opportunity to do so! Jenna-Lee manages two local dental practices and provides administrative support for Stone Ridge properties. She spends her summer weekends enjoying her family’s lake cottage and you can find her rink side all winter long, cheering on her daughter’s hockey team. Jenna-Lee encourages you to learn more about the Friends and to jump in where you can, to further enhance our beautiful community.

TREASURER

Andrea Paquin grew up in the Lowell area and spent time in New York City, Somerville, MA and Long Xuyen, Vietnam before settling down in Amesbury. For seven years, she taught academic English and writing to international students at the University of New Hampshire. Since then, she has managed the business operations for a consulting firm that provides program management, logistics, and engineering services to various government and commercial customers. Truth be told- she never thought of herself as a numbers person- always gravitating toward reading and writing; however, when she found herself in the world of accounting and bookkeeping and financial reporting, she was thrilled to apply those skills supporting the Friends as Treasurer. Andrea has been an Amesbury resident for 10 years and has two young children who frequent the library and love browsing The Stacks. She believes public libraries and the programming they offer are the cornerstone of a community, and Amesbury happens to be a particularly wonderful community! 

SECRETARY

Caitlin Chaloux lives in Amesbury with her husband and their two young sons. A book lover since her Nancy Drew days, she now enjoys everything from contemporary fiction to timeless classics, with a particular fondness for historical fiction and a newfound interest in fantasy. Libraries have always held a special place in Caitlin’s heart. From her hometown library in Hampstead, NH, to the Villanova University library where she wrote many of her English papers, and even the public library in Cork City, Ireland, where Caitlin spent time as an au pair, she has always felt at home at the library. The Amesbury Public Library has become a favorite family destination for Caitlin and her two curious little ones. They delight in exploring the Kids’ Room and joining story time and the other fun events offered outside on the side lawn. Caitlin takes great pleasure in browsing the library’s shelves and stumbling upon unexpected literary treasures!

MEMBERSHIP CHAIR

Karen loves traveling, drinking wine, spending time with her dog, and reading. She taught ESL for 25 years but is currently pursuing writing children’s books. She moved to Amesbury with her husband at the end of 2022 and joined the board immediately after that so she could help out her new community as well as meet new people. So far she’s accomplished both! 

BOOK SHOP MANAGER

Growing up, Kate would go with her mom and sister to the public library every Tuesday night. They checked out an L.L. Bean tote bag-worth of books and grabbed a warm baguette from the grocery store on the way home. One of Kate’s favorite childhood memories is eating warm bread while her mom would read to her. Now, Kate is delighted to give back to the incredible Amesbury Public Library as a Friend. In her day-to-day, Kate works at an educational nonprofit that focuses on teacher professional development. Kate also teaches at the University of New Hampshire in the Department of Education, and she is the co-creator of the Anti-Racist Roadmap, a tool for allies and aspiring co-conspirators to learn how to allocate their time, resources, and capital in service of racial justice. She received her B.A. from Skidmore College in New York, her M.Ed from Northeastern University in Boston, and her Ph.D from the University of New Hampshire. She loves living in Amesbury with her partner, her two kids, and her very adorable dogs.

Clare grew up in rural North Carolina and “hopped” her way up the coast, going to high school in Richmond and then college in Baltimore, before landing in Amesbury a few years ago. Along the way, she picked up a husband in Colorado, a passion for craft beer, and an unexpected career in regulatory affairs. As a long-time remote worker, she is always on the lookout for engaging, community-building activities outside the home. Clare was a book-lover from an early age, when she would decline her parents’ offers to read her to sleep in favor of the chance to read for herself. Fortunate to have an incredible and passionate children’s librarian at her local library just a few blocks up the street, she would take daily walks to go visit Miss Hannah and ask for book recommendations. Believing that every person at any age can benefit from all that a local library can offer, Clare jumped at the chance to get involved with the Friends and play a part in helping Amesbury thrive. 

Anna grew up in Acton, MA and has bounced around New England, including a short stint in Colorado, until she finally settled down in Amesbury in 2019. In all of the places she's lived, the library was always the first stop to get a library card. The lifelong love of books started young, with daily trips to the library, continuing with a career in libraries as her first job was a library page in high school. Today, after pivoting from working in libraries to archives to museums to hospitals, Anna now works in fundraising at Greenbelt, a land trust responsible for stewarding land in Essex County, Massachusetts. Outside of her day-to-day, she lives with her husband and her dog and a cat in an old fixer-upper that they're endlessly working on. Besides working on her house improvements, she likes to go running, road and trail, and collect more books for her TBR list from local bookstores and in her travels around the world. 

Jillian is a proud lifelong resident of Amesbury. Both she and her husband grew up in town and frequented this same library as children and love sharing that experience with their young son. Jillian’s son is always thrilled to pick a book from the library and enjoy all that the kids area has to offer. She has always been an avid reader and loves to wind down at the end of the day with a book in hand. Jillian also loves coffee, wine, hot power yoga, and seeing live music. Jillian is thrilled to be joining the Friends and helping to promote all that the library has to offer our wonderful community.