Jane Mirandette, is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, Her careers have been in nursing, public health, and accounting. She is a business coach, and has a small Cloud Based Bookkeeping company in Fort Collins, Colorado. She is the founder of the Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries for All Foundation and the Director of Nicaragua’s first lending library, the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca. Through the HJH Library in a Box Recipient Program she has facilitated the initiation of 65 lending library projects in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and El Salvador. Jane has been involved in community development projects and service projects in Central America since 2003. Since 2007, she has been the Nicaragua Mission Leader for Council Tree Covenant Church in Ft. Collins, Colorado and she is currently a member of the Colorado Association of Librarian’s International Library and Cultural Exchange Interest Group (ILCE).  Jane provides coordination for service learning volunteer groups and is a resource for groups in the United States who wish to start libraries wanting to provide sanitation, health, and education programs in Central America.

Jill’s first trip to Nicaragua was in 2012 when she accompanied a local organization to deliver medical equipment in Nicaragua. Her group went out on the Mobile Project one day after meeting with Jane one morning and Jill was inspired by Jane’s efforts. She quickly fell in love with the project and wanted to get more involved. For over ten years, Jill has been working alongside Jane to improve communication and fundraising strategies for the Foundation. She has joined in on many service learning trips over the years across Nicaragua, carted several suitcases of books to Nicaragua, and attended conferences on behalf of HJH.  In 2021, the Executive Board elected Jill to be named co-vice president alongside Pat Herron and she hopes to learn the ins and outs of the Foundation from Jane Mirandette.

Pat Herron joined our team in 2008 when she accompanied the first college credit programs to Nicaragua from the University of Maryland. Over the years, Pat has helped facilitate 7 study abroad trips to Nicaragua that first brought students in the Library Master’s Program to Nicaragua to help reinforce the structure of our programs and later, undergraduate business students to work with local entrepreneurs such as artisans and merchants to develop and improve their business plans. She saw a need to support Nicaraguan students in the pursuit of their dreams and has supported students through higher education and trade learning opportunities. Pat brings her skills as a librarian as well as her expertise in Latin American and Latinx studies to our team.  Pat retired from the University of Maryland Libraries in 2021 and now dedicates much of her time working for the Foundation. She is one of the Executive Board’s Vice-Presidents.

Although a relative newcomer to our team, Rosemary Green has followed the work of the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca and HJH Foundation for many years. She made her first trip to Nicaragua in 2017, and after witnessing firsthand the important work of the library and Mobile Project, Rosemary agreed to join us on the Advisory Board and later the Executive Board. She brings her expertise as a librarian and educator, as well as her writing skills, to the sustainable projects of the HJH Libraries for All Foundation. Rosemary Green recently retired from Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia after 38 years as a faculty librarian. Los libros, la lectura y las bibliotecas pueden cambiar nuestras vidas para siempre.

In 2006, Lily, in partnership with Pat Herron, accompanied the first University of Maryland Library School graduate students to Nicaragua thus launching an enduring and valuable collaboration. The partners designed programs to help support the Foundation’s aspiration to develop, promote and improve access to information for everybody. Over the years, the partnership continued as programs evolved to include experiential learning courses for University of Maryland undergraduate business students. These students applied and shared their business knowledge with local Nicaraguan nonprofits and small business entrepreneurs. Lily’s passions include international travel and helping people. She actualized those passions making many trips to Nicaragua and supporting learning opportunities for Nicaraguan students. Her contribution includes her skills as a business librarian, her innovative approaches to problem solving,  her international experience and her passion for helping people.  Lily is a member of the Advisory Board and the Executive Board.

Atwill’s current professional focus is consulting on optimizing commercial real estate operations via AI, digital building networks, and PropTech software.  As a Vice President of Mecho, he led teams of colleagues who helped Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google, Goldman Sachs, The New York Times and others realize their expectations of building performance worldwide. 

After making several trips to San Juan Del Sur with Patricia Herron, Lily Griner, and students from the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, Atwill realized how vital the Library and HJH Foundation are to the SJDS community and the region.  He is now very excited about HJH programs and seeing them scale up. He looks forward to working with HJH both in and on the future.

Barb came to Nicaragua in 2015 as part of an official tour of the Colorado Association of Libraries (CAL) and was a member of CAL’s International Library and Cultural Exchange Interest Group. Having retired as a professional librarian of 28 years in the Technical Services department of the Mamie Doud Eisenhower Public Library in Broomfield, Colorado, Barb began to help with the cataloging and technical services support of the San Juan del Sur library in 2016. Barb is now living in Maryland and has continued her work with the SJDS Biblioteca by assisting with its online catalog, working with staff of both SJDS and Koha Systems, and by joining the HJH Board of Directors.

Julie Speier has been a full time resident of San Juan del Sur for 17 years.  Originally drawn here for the surf and beautiful beaches, Julie and her husband John founded the San Juan Del Sur Day School.  She guided the school for 15 years and successfully managed to grow it to 190 students, MINED accreditation and Cognia accreditation before passing the torch to another group of parents.  Julie is from Cincinnati, Ohio, she is the daughter of a lifelong educator who instilled the love of reading and education into her.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Boston University and has worked as a teacher ever since.  Julie is honored to be serving as a board member for the library.

Alex joined the team in 2018 when he became our go-to technology expert. Alex has created this very website, manages the platforms that send out our newsletters and manages our librariesforall.org email accounts. Alex has been on several trips to Nicaragua with his wife, Karen and has volunteered with the library’s mobile project several times.

Carole serves as an educational advisor and was instrumental in the origins of the San Juan del Sur Biblioteca by sharing her school librarian and the first library supply catalog with us! Jane and Carole put together the first iteration of the lending system we use in both our library and on our mobile project! She also has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood and her Master’s in Children’s Literacy. Carole teaches kindergarten full time and has a college coaching business admissionmagician.com. She also provides curriculum planning for our library projects. Carole is a National Board-Certified Early Childhood Educator. She has volunteered several years as support and book hauler at various ALA Annual Conventions and Book Expos!…She happens to be Jane’s daughter.

Janet Lee first traveled to Nicaragua in 2013 to work with esteemed storyteller and author, Anne Pellowski, who was leading her second conference in Nicaragua. Janet has since traveled there several times, including a Colorado Association of Libraries-led trip in 2015 as a board member of the International Library and Cultural Exchange Interest Group. International highlights of her career include serving as the shipboard librarian for the Semester at Sea in 2003, a sabbatical leave in 2010 to help build the Segenat Children and Youth Library in Mekelle, Ethiopia, a joint workshop in 2013 with Anne Pellowski and Peace Corps Volunteers in Mekelle, and a Fulbright Scholar appointment in Axum, Ethiopia 2017-18. Janet is pleased to join the board of the HJH Foundation.

Preston Tobery is the Instructional Support Technician for Sacramento State University library. He is responsible for the planning and oversight of the upcoming Stinger Studio makerspace, as well as serving as the maker technology advisor on campus. Preston is an expert in many “maker” technologies including 3D printing, 3D modeling, as well as virtual and augmented reality. He specializes in teaching patrons how to use these technologies to help bring their ideas to a reality, and cross-campus collaboration with professors to bring these technologies into the classroom. He has also co-written several articles regarding this technology and has been published three times. Preston also founded a small business named Adaptive Tech & Consulting with a focus on the development of 3D printed devices for special needs animals. He has helped over 500 special needs animals around the world. Preston’s company also provides consultations to anyone who would like to start up a makerspace in their community, k-12 school, college, or university. He is an advisory board member and 3D printing expert for the Hester J. Hodgdon Libraries for All Foundation, for which he has assisted with the implementation of a 3D printing program located in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

As the Integrated Library System Administrator, Zuniga is responsible for development, implementation, support and administration of the Poudre River Public Library District’s integrated library system supporting a variety of services including circulation, cataloging, acquisitions, serials, reports, external interface functionality, and public access.

In 2014, PRPLD started working with the San Juan del Sur library to develop a catalog system using the open source ILS, KOHA. Tasks involved early design, data migration, custom development, system configuration, report generation, testing and staff training. The result, 6 years later, a sister library partnership and a fully developed system supporting the main branch along with 30+ schools being served in rural areas through this new catalog system.

In addition to the SJDS sister library partnership, Zuniga has also collaborated with the Colorado State University to develop a single sign-on process (RAM Card) to facilitate access to PRPLD’s print and electronic resources for CSU students using their student ID. He also managed SearchOhio while at the Westerville Public Library, a consortium of 43 public library systems across the state of Ohio.

Zuniga is currently serving as the Past Chair (2020 – 2021) for the Innovative Users Group (IUG). The Innovative Users Group was founded in 1991 as an international organization of member libraries using the Millennium/Sierra ILS products from Innovative Interfaces, Inc.

Edwin started working at the library in 2008 and has been keeping the library doors open ever since. Edwin is our boots on the ground man that deals with any crisis and manages much of the library happenings. Before joining the library team, Edwin worked at Hotel Villa Isabella for many years as a night man and manager. Edwin is the Paymaster for the library and coordinates many of the volunteer activities. He is the person that the libary can depend on to do whatever is needed. Aside from his work in the library and his passion for helping his community, his family also owns a small pulperia in San Juan del Sur that he manages alongside his wife.

When we first met Katia, she was a familiar face in our library, coming every day with her children and family members to use to the books, games, and computers we had to offer. Jane offered Katia a full-time job when she noticed how often Katia was helping out around the library. Katia makes sure that the library is organized and helps anyone who is looking to check out books or utilize our other services. Katia uses her creative and artistic talents to decorate the library walls, plan events, and come up with crafts for children to make.

Denis Vasquez is a longtime friend and employee who has been with us longer than the library itself has. When Jane bought Hotel Villa Isabella in May of 2000, Denis came with the building! The former owner’s only codicil to selling the hotel to Jane and Mike Iacoboni was that his two employees stay employed. Denis and Roxanna Vasquez have worked with Jane ever since in many varied capacities. Over the years Denis has become an excellent driver who helps transport volunteers and drives for the Mobile Project. He has an increasingly expanding grasp of English and is a terrific handyman. Denis has been a valuable resource in many capacities since 2000 and now serves as a “go to” person in the library, working with the mobile project, managing work projects for volunteers, at the desk and in maintenance for the library and whatever else is required. He is dedicated, flexible, willing, and capable. 

Wiston has been visiting the San Juan del Sur library since its inception in 2001 when it began on the patio of Hotel Villa Isabella.  It has always been one of his dreams to work in the library.  He started with the book mobile in 2021 and is now in charge of the computer area and the Sueños3D printing center, which he is proud to say is a great project for San Juan del Sur.  Wiston has developed the important technical skills needed to oversee the library’s computer lab and the 3D printing center and has expanded his skills to become an accomplished teacher to the local high school students who take courses from him in 3D modeling and printing.  In a very short time, he has become an indispensable member of the library team

Norman Diaz is studying systems engineering. Spending time in the library is  one of his favorite activities, as reading has been a passion of his since childhood, and he enjoys instilling a love for reading in children. He has been going to the library since he was a child, and he says that working there is a dream come true for him. He is a very enthusiastic person, and whenever someone visits the library, he enjoys recommending books that he has read. Norman manages the computer lab and printing services and assists at reception and with the mobile project when needed.