Love of the library is common thread among trustees

LENOX – Stephen “Steve” Peters, president of the Lenox Library Board of Trustees, said the common thread of all board members is that “everybody just loves the library.”

They use it and, in many cases, their kids use it.

The board is a nice mix of people, he said. They range in age from late 30s to post-retirement years. Some work full- or part-time, while others are retired.

Board members have diversified backgrounds, too, the president said, such as financial, health care, legal professions and retail.

“There’s a cross-section of people,” Mr. Peters said.

Board members have different connections to the library and like it for many different reasons, too.

Library connection goes way back

In Mr. Peters’ case, the connection to the library goes back many years. Although he is from Pennsylvania, his father’s family is from Lenox. His father, now 94 years young, lives in Pennsylvania but occasionally visits Lenox.

He had a second cousin by marriage who worked as a librarian for more than 30 years at the local library. Mr. Peters said he always knew about the library and visited it as a youngster.

Mr. Peters majored in political science at Trinity College in Hartford, Ct., and earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. He never practiced law, however, since he went into investment banking.

He also did five years of active duty in the U.S Air Force.

Mr. Peters worked for 26 years in New Jersey, then New York and Boston and retired in April 2011. Retirement, he said, agrees with him 100 percent.

His wife, Patricia, is an editor. They moved to Lenox in January 2007.

The Peters family includes two sons and a daughter, who now live in Colorado, Montana and New York.

Mr. and Mrs. Peters travel to visit with their children and five grandchildren.

New member, Yuki Cohen

Yuki Cohen said she is a “brand, spanking new” trustee.

She left her native South Korea at age three. Her parents immigrated to Brazil for nine years and moved to the United States in 1980.

“As immigrants, everybody looks up to coming to the United States,” she said.

Her parents were extremely hard-working people who ran a convenience store in Brooklyn for 17 years.

“They worked 14 hours a day, 365 days a year,” she said.

Mrs. Cohen’s family of origin was lower middle class, she said.

She met her ex-husband, Josh, who was from the Richmond area, on a blind date in New York City. They married, moved to the Berkshires in 2007 and ran Moe’s Tavern in Lee, of which she is still co-owner. Moe’s has participated in beer-tasting fundraising events for the library.

The Cohens have two girls, Sophie, age five, and Zoe, three.

Children attend library events

“They love the library,” Mrs. Cohen said. She takes them to all kinds of library events including story time.

As a library trustee, Mrs. Cohen said she loves being part of a community that does educational events.

“I am very grateful to be in The Berkshires,” she said. “I’m in love with The Berkshires.”

Mrs. Cohen works as a wealth advisor at Berkshire Bank in Lenox.

Board of Trustees Member Matthew “Matt” Mozian, also clerk for the trustees, was raised in Woodstock, N.Y. (The name Mozian is of Armenian origin.)

After high school, he went to the University of New York at Geneseo, majoring in English literature.

After graduation, he went directly to Albany Law School and earned his law degree in 2001.

He’s been practicing as a litigation and corporate practices attorney with Campoli and Montleone in Pittsfield since 2007. The office also covers Great Barrington and North Adams.

Library service runs in family

Serving as a library trustee kind of runs in the family, he said. His mother was on the library board in Woodstock.

“It was a small library in Woodstock, but it was a big piece of my life,” he said, adding he always thought a place providing free access to information is part of democracy.

Mr. Mozian’s wife, Sharon, is a psychiatrist at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. They have two children, Ava, four years old, and Max, three. Both are library card holders.

All the Mozian family members are frequent users of the Lenox Library, Mr. Mozian said. They attend many of the children’s programming, too.

He became a trustee shortly after moving to Lenox.

Of the local library, he said, “It’s a very special place.”

Library is town asset

David “Dave” Roche has been a library trustee for the past two years. He said he joined “because I enjoy the library. It’s an asset to this town.”

Mr. Roche’s great-grandfather, David, emigrated from Ireland and, in 1860, was naturalized in the very building where the library now stands. It was a courthouse then.

His father, William, served as library treasurer for 30 years. In 1980, the park adjacent to the library was named Roche Reading Park, after William Roche.

A native of Lenox, Dave Roche said he has used the library since he was about three years old. After high school, he majored in business at Stonehill College in Easton, Mass. Then he served as a captain in the U.S. Army for four years.

After the service, in 1985, he became senior vice president in charge of lending at City Savings Bank.

Helped develop Cranwell

Then he formed a partnership with two other businessmen, and over the course of the next five years, they developed Cranwell from a boys’ school to a resort.

Then he went to work for Business Enterprises and maintains that connection.

Mr. Roche also owns Aspinwall Equestrian Center, which he refers to as his “hobby business.” His daughter, Caroline, runs it, he said.

He has three other daughters, also, Emily (who lives in Newburyport, north of Boston) and Isabel and Joanna, both of Lenox.

He’s a proud grandfather to seven grandchildren who, he said, all now use the Lenox Library.

Two new members

Ethan Berg is vice president of the board of trustees and Edward Richter is treasurer.

Other board members include Ilse Browner, Gregory Federspiel, Kenneth Fowler, Larry Lane, Matthew Lenehan, Jo Anne Magee, Lisa Nelson, Richard Taylor and Kimberly Winger.

The two newest members are David Fromm and Matthew Keator.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on January 3, 2013. Filed under Community News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry