When in doubt, go to the library.
— J. K. Rowling (1999)
The Friends of the Port Townsend Library, a nonprofit organization established in 1978, funds programs, services, and materials beyond what the city’s library budget covers. Our support comes primarily from donations and book sales. We welcome everyone.
The Port Townsend Public Library was founded in 1898 by volunteers and, thanks to continuing community support, has remained an active Carnegie Library since the present building opened in 1913. Today its per capita circulation is in the top five for public libraries in Washington State.
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As of 2024, the Friends is one of two community organizations supporting the library’s work. The Library Advisory Board advises Port Townsend’s city manager and city council regarding library facilities, operations, collections, and policies. Now merged with the Port Townsend Public Library Foundation, the Friends supports the library by raising funds for programs, as well as materials, to supplement the resources the city provides. The strength of these organizations is living proof of the Port Townsend community’s support of its library.
The Friends runs entirely on volunteer power
Only through the dedication of a small army of volunteers—more than 100 at last count—is the Friends able to do What We Do.
Volunteers sort books, transport books, and set up books for book sales. Volunteers write, design, publish, and distribute our newsletter and maintain our online presence. Volunteers keep our finances in order.
Volunteers do it because they love their library—and because it’s fun!
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Friends serve as board members
CINDY JOHNSON
President
Serving first as our treasurer for five years, then vice president for another five (when she was major force during our merger with the Port Townsend Public Library Foundation), Cindy brings four decades of career nonprofit financial and management experience to the presidency. She loves all things British, from Trollope to afternoon tea.
DEB VANDERBILT
Vice President
Deb was our president from 2020 to 2025, bringing us valuable perspective from years of publicly minded work, including on the board of the Friends of the Jefferson County Library. She oversaw our merger with the Port Townsend Public Library Foundation and also strengthened our board and enhanced its work for the library.
MARGARET PETERSON
Second Vice President
Relying on the power of books to enlighten and revitalize came naturally: Margaret’s mother was the town librarian, and love of reading was a family given. While a teacher and secondary school principal, she used reading to sharpen skills and explore worlds, to soothe and heal, to expand awareness and challenge hidden biases. Now she is thrilled to support the reading culture of this unique community.
LINDA RHINES
Secretary
A retired librarian, Linda loves reading (she’s in four book groups), hiking, kayaking, and the beautiful environment that surrounds us.
BETH YOUNG
Treasurer
The library was Beth’s favorite place as a child. The first two things she did on moving to Jefferson County a few decades ago were to change her voter registration and get a library card—not necessarily in that order! Reading, gardening, hiking, and traveling occupy Beth’s free time when she isn’t “doing the books” for the Friends.
MIKE BURK
Member at Large
Mike’s favorite place to be as a kid was the city library. His first “official” task when he moved to Port Townsend was to get his library card. After his IT career in the printing and document management business, Mike and his wife now spend their time raising Pembroke Welsh Corgis. You can see them with their corgi friends in the annual Grand Parade during the Port Townsend Rhody Festival.
ELLEN W CHU
Publications
An ecologist and editor, Ellen cares too much about accuracy and nuance in words, science, and music. When not editing, designing, or web“mastering,” she tends the urban woods of her backyard; uses her binoculars to watch birds, marine life, and musicians; and fully intends to resume regular cycling.
DRU DENCE
Support Coordinator
The Friends’ newest board member, Dru is the third generation of her family to serve the Port Townsend library; her grandfather had a job there in the late 1930s, and her father is an artist and presenter today. She is fluent in project management and graphic design, prompting her day-job boss to say, “If it’s a good idea, it’s Dru’s."
DAN NEEDLES
Member at Large
Raised as a professor’s son, Dan spent his formative years in the library. For the past three decades, he evolved alongside it, hammering the square peg of knowledge into the round hole of business and tech consulting. Today Dan can be found on Nextdoor and around town, testing the edges of knowledge, his neighbors, and reality, while extolling the library’s virtues and raising awareness about the infamous Port Townsend Zombie Deer.
MARC PERRETT
Book Donations
An avid reader all his life, Marc has been hauling boxes of donated books weekly for the Friends for well over ten years. Now he coordinates our book sorters and curates books for sale. In his spare time, he likes to go camping, cook, bicycle, and dream of future travel.
FRAN POST
Member at Large
Fran has served on the Friends’ board for more than a decade, managing our roster of supporters and contributing reviews regularly to our newsletter. She enjoys traveling the American West and finally saw the Northern Lights right here in Port Townsend.
GERALYNN RACKOWSKI
Member at Large
Geralynn knows many people and many stories in Port Townsend. Not only has she served the Friends’ board longer than anyone else, she persevered as our president for eleven successful years.
ROSIE WATTERS
Publicity
The library has always been Rosie’s happy place, and volunteering for a library is what she loves best. As an elementary school teacher and principal, she saw her most important job as teaching children the love of books and reading. Reading, gardening, quilting, and walking near the water fill her days!
The Friends’ board was surprised and saddened to learn that our colleague and friend Martha Tansey died on July 30, 2024, on her eighty-second birthday. She had just completed a three-year term as board secretary and was taking well-earned advantage of her renewed “at-large” status to go on an Alaskan adventure before returning to her many volunteer roles here at home. She began a full life of service as a teacher and then with the Peace Corps in Malaysia, before devoting herself to a nearly forty-year career as a children’s librarian, librarian to the homebound, and reference librarian, along with cherishing her family and lifelong friends. Characteristically understated, Martha’s blurb for this website read simply, “A retired librarian, and volunteer teacher of literacy and English as a Second Language, Martha enjoys hiking, reading, finding new vegan recipes, and helping out.” So true. She helped out our board, book sales, and the library, serving with diligence, warmth, and quiet good cheer; her smile radiated empathy and unmatched kindness whether you ran into her at the library, on a Fort Worden trail, or in the grocery store. We miss her deeply.