Trustees & Meeting Minutes

Susan is a native of New Hampshire, having grown up in Madbury and moved to Barrington in 1967. Her father’s ancestors settled in Barrington in the late 1700s.  After living elsewhere in New England after college, she and her husband Tony moved back to Barrington in 1991.  Susan previously served on the BPL trustee board from 2001-12, and on the Barrington Selectboard from 2011-17.  She has been an active member of the Friends of the BPL since 2000.  In addition, she is a board member of Cornerstone VNA where she is serving a second term as board chair. Susan retired in 2011 after a long career in non-profit health and human services.  She holds Masters in Education and MBA degrees from UNH.

In addition to reading, Susan enjoys kayaking, snowshoeing, traveling, baking and nurturing the many perennials she has purchased at the Friends Annual Plant sale over the years.

Lydia Cupp has been a resident in Barrington NH for over 25 years. She is employed by the Oyster River Cooperative School District as a special education teacher. She has been actively involved in the library since moving to Barrington. Her first involvement was getting a library card and having her 3 children involved in the various programs at the library. She then became a member of the Friends of the Library and eventually became an officer. Lydia has held the office of recording secretary, vice president, and president of the group. Lydia’s interests include gardening (she is also a Barrington Bloomer), travel, reading, church activities, and spending time with her family. She has a great affection for the Barrington Library.

Karen is a NH native who moved to Barrington in 2012 with her husband of 46  years. They designed and built a solar, energy efficient retirement home on Ayers Lake. Karen has two adult children. She earned a BS in Nursing from UNH and worked for 40 years as a labor and delivery nurse, educator, and clinical leader in the Obstetric setting. She has volunteered for schools, Dover Adult Learning, Eye Care Clinics in Nicaragua and the Peace Corps.

Since moving to Barrington, Karen has volunteered for End 68 Hours of Hunger, served as a member of the Community Library Leadership Team and now as a Board Member of the Barrington Library Foundation. Through this work she has experienced the Barrington community’s spirit and generosity.
Karen is an avid reader, creative fiction writer, hiker, kayaker, gardener, world traveler and enthusiastic grandparent to four grandchildren. She values the services the Barrington Library and its staff bring to citizens of all ages. 

As a trustee, Karen will work to ensure that classes, lectures and multiple services continue to meet the town’s demands. Karen has pledged to the new Barrington Library and Community Center as a legacy gift and voted in favor of the building.

Diane has been a resident of Barrington for the past 40 years, raising two daughters here. In 2021, Diane retired after a 41 year career teaching middle school mathematics, the last 37 in Somersworth, NH. She holds a Masters in Education from the University of New Hampshire. When she’s not finding new releases at the library to read, Diane loves to walk, swim, play with her grandsons and bake. She believes in the importance of vibrant town libraries and all the services they offer.

Melanie grew up in Berwick, ME and has lived in Barrington for many years. As a child, she always loved the frequent visits her family made to the library, which always resulted in a huge stack of books to be brought home and enjoyed. Now, Melanie enjoys doing the same thing with her own school-aged children at the Barrington Public Library.
When she is not reading on her Kindle or listening to an audiobook, Melanie enjoys cooking, gardening, running, and travel.

Melanie is also very active on Goodreads – check out her Bookshelves at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/36129977-melanie-haley

Richard has lived in Barrington for more than twenty years. He began his career in the theater, working for the producer (later novelist), Robert Ludlum as his assistant.  After a fifty year career in commercial and industrial real estate in New York and New Jersey, Richard retired in 2023.  Richard enjoys traveling with his wife, Beth, and landscaping the property around his home.  As an avid reader and a member of the Friends of the Library, Richard welcomes the opportunity to serve as a library trustee.

Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of 182 traditionally published children’s books, including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids and Mermaid Tales series. She was a first-grade teacher and a school librarian. She moved to New Hampshire in 2023 with her husband to be closer to her grandchildren.

Ezra was born in East Lansing, Michigan, but has been a NH resident for the past 20 years. He moved to Barrington in 2017 with his wife, Kara, and Australian Cattle Dog mix, Kona. He has helped add to that group with daughters Reagan and Zoe. He holds an undergraduate degree in Public Relations, with minors in Marketing and Journalism from SUNY Plattsburgh, where he was a captain for the basketball team. Ezra is a local realtor, working with the Zoeller Group at Keller Williams Coastal Realty. He has loved the library since early in life. Quoting his father, Ezra was “hard to please” until he was able to read, and the library has been a large part of his life since. More recently Ezra has been volunteering at the Barrington library on an almost weekly basis. When he isn’t reading or spending time with family, he enjoys cycling, playing basketball, and watching Michigan State athletics. 

Karolina grew up in Manchester, NH in a Polish family. She has lived in Barrington for many years, and was a teacher in Somersworth for over thirty years. She was one of the founders of the International Children’s Festival in Somersworth.