Our Board

Richard is a retired academic librarian who worked at the Oregon Historical Society and the University of Washington. He is the author of The Oregon Companion: an Historical Gazetteer of the Useful, the Curious, and the Arcane, and Eating It Up in Eden: the Oregon Century Farm & Ranch Cookbook. Serving as a board member of APLF intersects nicely with his interests in Oregon history, literature and writing, and historic preservation. He lives in the Monteith district with his husband, Terry, four cats, and a great deal of vegetation.

Richard H. Engeman, president

Rosemary Bennett grew up in Lebanon and graduated from Lebanon High School in 1965. She then enrolled at OSU, graduating with a degree in education in 1969. She later earned a master’s degree in counseling at the University of Oregon and worked at Linn Benton Community College in their counseling center until her retirement. She has lived in Albany for 45 years.

Rosemary Bennett, vice president

Barbara Krochta joined the board of the Albany Public Library Foundation in 2017 and has been the APLF treasurer since then. Born, raised, and schooled in Indiana, Barb decided to join a friend in California after graduating from Purdue University in 1968.  Her most recent work experience was with a southern California finance company, which moved to Las Vegas in 1996.  After retiring from this company in 2013, Barb moved to Oregon where her brother and family were living.  She has been very interested in the history of the town of Albany and state of Oregon ever since.  Albany’s history, and particularly the history behind the Carnegie Library, drew her to the position on the board of APLF.

Barbara Krochta, treasurer

Becky has always been a book lover. She was the child who got in trouble for reading under the covers past bedtime. She still stays up into the wee hours of the night to finish a book on occasion, but more often now you’ll find her supporting teachers as they transform more students into book lovers. Becky is a Beginning Teacher Mentor for Greater Albany Public Schools. She and her husband, Craig, have lived in Albany and raised their two children, who are now adults, in this community. Becky’s love for our library, both for others and for herself, finds its place serving on the Albany Public Library Foundation Board.

Becky Koontz, secretary

James (or Jim) Hogan is a retired teacher. He taught fourth and fifth grades here in Albany and turned to English as a Foreign Language in his last five years on the job. He has been a member of the Albany Public Library Foundation board for about six years and has enjoyed his retirement and involvement with the library. He now revels in travel, reading, yard work and watching sports.

James Hogan

Dick has been involved in Albany’s civic life since his first election to the city council in 1972. He later served as mayor, and has again been on the council since 1998. Dick worked hard to retain the Carnegie library when it was threated with closure in 1973 and again 1990. He has championed other historic preservation successes as well, such as the creation of the Monteith, Hackleman, and downtown historic districts, and the preservation of the Monteith House and Central School. Now a retired chemical engineer, Dick continues to support the Carnegie as a handsome and important element of his city’s vitality.

Dick Olsen

John and Cheryl moved from Seattle to Albany.  They were attracted by the downtown neighborhoods with their old houses, sidewalks, big trees, well-rated school and the Carnegie branch of our two-branch library.  They also participated fully in the library and its programs – the books, for sure, but also the performances, the art programs (Cheryl gave some of them), the Albany’s Got Talent contests, and the story times.  Separate from the programs for Sean, Cheryl and John borrowed a stream of books – novels, history and poetry primarily.  Walking to the downtown branch is a constant delight.  John serves on the Albany Public Library Foundation because he believes that the Carnegie branch is essential to the health and welfare of the older, central part of Albany. The Foundation helps keep the Carnegie branch maintained and helps both branches with funds for programs and acquisitions.

John Byrne

Bernadette comes from a long line of bibliomanes. According to legend, her grandfather was useless at housework unless he could do it while holding an open book in one hand. He was a great one for gently stirring soups. When his son, her father, made a transatlantic move it was deemed to be most efficient (cost and speed) to use book rate shipping from the USPS (it was the 1970s). More than 100 boxes, each containing around five hardcovers, accumulated in my grandparents’ hallway before he found a suitable rental with adequate built-in shelving. Bernadette’s attempted to calm the book fever by becoming an enthusiastic library patron. The floor joists of her old house still groan with the accumulated weight of bound paper, but the influx of new acquisitions has slowed to a trickle. Joining the board of the Albany Public Library Foundation is her small way of thanking the organization for its therapeutic qualities.

Bernadette Niederer