Palatine Library Board announces five new members
Palatine Public Library District board of library trustees is pleased to announce five newly elected board members from April's election: Debby Brauer, Bruce Jefferson, Valerie Sherman, Andrea Vanderhoek, and Jeffrey Westhoff.
They were sworn in at a meeting of the Library Board on June 14, and their terms will expire June 2021.
Debby Brauer is a former publishing house department manager, book and journal editor and productivity trainer. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in English, with minors in business administration and classical civilizations from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Brauer has been a resident of the district for 24 years.
Bruce Jefferson has served on the board since being appointed in 2011 to fill a vacancy, elected in 2013, and re-elected this year. He is the general counsel for Thresholds, a community-based, nonprofit mental health provider in the Chicago area. His community experience includes service as deputy director of the Indiana Civil Rights Commission. Jefferson has been a resident of the district for 12 years.
Valerie Sherman is an attorney and fundraiser who frequently volunteers for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in history, with minors in French and political science from Illinois State University, and a juris doctor's degree from the DePaul University College of Law. Sherman has been a resident of the district for 12 years.
Andrea Vanderhoek has been serving on the board since her appointment in 2016 to fill a vacancy. She works as a certified pediatric emergency nurse in a pediatric emergency department and serves as a member of Pediatric Ethics Advisory Committee. She has a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy, with a minor in economics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and a bachelor of science degree in nursing from the University of South Carolina. Vanderhoek has been a resident of the district for 24 years.
Jeffrey Westhoff is a writer and editor with Divine Word Missionaries, based in Techny, Illinois. He is also a published author and wrote and researched his young adult novel at Palatine Library. He attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and English. For nearly 25 years he was the movie critic for the Northwest Herald in McHenry County. Westhoff has been a resident of the district for 20 years.