Administration
Kiera Parrott
Kiera is a lifelong learner and true believer in the transformational power of the public library. She enjoys reading twisty psychological thrillers, historical fiction, and social science, watching "Jeopardy," collaborating on the Sunday puzzle with her husband and listening to Hall & Oates at every opportunity.
Elisabeth Gattullo Marrocolla
Elisabeth is an avid genre reader: fantasy, science fiction, horror, mysteries, and romance. She can talk for hours about the many scandals of European royal families, classic children's literature, and pop culture.
Bree Marsden
A proud bibliophile and veteran of the entertainment industry, Bree enjoys traveling to Ireland and spending as much time as possible outdoors with her family. She loves children's literature and illustration, memoirs, and true stories of extreme survival. One of her goals in life is to teach her daughter that the live concert version is ALWAYS better than the studio recording.
Cathy McLachlan
Cathy makes it happen.
Agata Slattery
A passionate bibliophile with a penchant for both romance and psychological thrillers. When not immersed in books, she’s out enjoying the beach, golfing with her husband, or exploring new destinations with her family. Her philosophy? Embrace every moment, knowing that your time will come when the universe aligns.
Adult Programming & Community Engagement
Pat Sheary
Pat is not only an insatiable reader and huge Anglophile, she loves to travel and do needlework. Ask Pat where she is going next! She’ll be happy to tell you!
Amanda DeMaio
Amanda loves reading about far away adventures, crafting, and always makes time for a coming of age novel. If you are ever putting together a cheese plate or are looking for an electric kazoo performance, Amanda to the rescue!
Jane Frazier
Jane Frazier is our Hostess with the Mostess, resident Francophile, and Michigan sports fanatic. When she’s not welcoming you to one of our library programs, you can find her swimming laps at the YMCA or baking her famous chocolate chip cookies.
Joanne Gabriel
Joanne loves all things nature-oriented, and really enjoys producing gardening programs at the Library. In her spare time, she is into cooking, horticultural therapy, and reading the latest book group book. Joanne grew up in Darien.
Kathleen Millard
Kathleen is a fiction reader with a sprinkling of nonfiction and thrillers. She is focused on author events and is always interested in connecting amazing writers with an audience of readers. The best author events enrich your life and pique your curiosity. Fine arts, gardening, cooking, travel, and wellness round out her days. She loves Darien Library and their amazing team!
Marianne Paterniti
Marianne is a book group's best friend. Ask her what she recommends for a lively discussion!
Annette Madden-Kline
When she’s not spending time with her four children, Annette loves open water swimming, cycling, reading, needlepoint, and flower arranging (although not at the same time!)
Children's Services
Claire Moore Salgado
Claire is a beach lover who looks forward to playing tennis when the sun is out. She is a huge fan of graphic novels and middle-grade realistic fiction. When she is not reading or listening to audiobooks, you can find her shedding tears over the latest "Modern Love" podcast or "Bluey" episode.
Samantha Cardone
Samantha is a strong believer that every art project needs more glitter. She enjoys reading historical fiction, mysteries, and whimsical graphic novels. Outside of the Library, she likes to write, visit art museums, and listen to K-pop.
Whitney Bibens
Whitney is currently a graduate student at Southern Connecticut State University. She has experience working with children in the public school system and is excited to join the Darien Library! She loves reading, education, and working with children! Come visit her in the Children's Library!
Eileen D'Andrea
Eileen is an avid reader who always has at least 10 books on her hold list. A natural-born communicator, she loves to read stories, tell stories, and listen to people's stories. When she's not reading on her front porch, she can usually be found spending too much time on Instagram, walking her dog, or taking pictures at the beach.
María E. Magallanes
María is an art lover! If she is not at the Library, she loves to paint! And play with her two dogs and her cat. Her favorite reading genre is historical fiction.
Erica Melnichok
Erica's love for children's literature first led to her career in book publishing, where she delighted in meeting authors and librarians. Historical fiction remains her favorite genre since her days reading Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie. But Sci-Fi Fantasy is a close second all thanks to A Wrinkle in Time and Harry Potter. There is also always room on her TBR pile for psychological thrillers and romance novels.
Fiona Morgan
Fiona is passionate about uncovering the deeper meaning behind all things literature; be it a sentence, word choice, characters, lyrics, symbols, or scene. When she's not annotating contemporary or classic novels, Fiona enjoys nature through trail runs, likes to attend live music performances, and spending time with friends.
Carrie Shaurette
Carrie reads across many genres and age groups, but she particularly likes books that make her laugh, cry, or think about things from a different perspective. As an avid sports fan, you can often find her cheering on the Rangers and the Mets.
Alison Schwartz
Alison is a natural entertainer who has been singing since she was old enough to talk. You can often find her having the time of her life with her raven puppet Fable at storytime. Funny picture books are her favorite! She is an Anglophile and an old soul who can't get enough of horror films, historical nonfiction books, and true crime documentaries.
Meredith Steiner
Meredith lives in Darien and works as a teacher during the school year in Stamford. She loves walking and running and spending time with her kids, husband, and dog. Meredith shared that one of her favorite books is All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, and that her kids are currently going through a Mo Willems phase.
Facilities
Juan Juarez
Juan is a dedicated and reliable custodian experienced in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in various facilities. His work as a custodian utilizes his skills to provide a safe and sanitized environment for staff and visitors. And when he’s not at the Library, he loves spending time with his wife and two sons anywhere in the city of New York.
Victor Pensiero
Vic keeps our library building in shape. As the former Chief Plumber for the Darien school district and current Chief of the Darien Fire Department, Vic is always ready to serve.
Materials Management
Esther Bittker
Esther is a native Darienite and a sophomore at Darien High School. She's had a passion for reading since a young age, being an avid patron of Darien Library for over a decade. Her favorite genres are realistic fiction, historical fiction, and the occasional cheesy romance. Outside of the Library she is a passionate student involved in a variety of clubs, with a love for summer weather, nature, baking, as well as any and every dog.
Tina Bothe
Tina is an excellent cook and baking is her specialty. Ask her about the cookbooks!
Joshua Estime
Joshua is a recent college graduate that truly wants to make a difference in this world. He looks up to Jesus Christ and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., individuals that not only stood up for their beliefs, but for the marginalized, as well. Joshua enjoys doing research on the topics of masculinity, nutrition, and male mental health. He also likes memoirs!
Dina Giordano
Dina loves animals, books, and travel - oh my! Her favorite place to be is on the seashore reading a mystery novel.
Jo Gleeson
Jo is a retired middle school teacher who is trading YA literature for historical fiction and novels. She enjoys biking, baking, long walks, and discovering new places.
Kim Kennedy
Kim is a local mom who spends a lot of her time chauffeuring her two teenagers around town and cheering them on at their activities. She enjoys reading memoirs but is easily distracted by any interior design book or cookbook. She also serves on the executive board of the Darien Historical Society, is a traditional calligrapher, tea drinker, and manages her beloved Yorkie’s Instagram account.
Kerry Pirone
Kerry is a busy lady with her family, her dog, a soft-coated Wheaton terrier, her love of babysitting, and most of all, her library. Kerry is an avid audiobook user “reading” all sorts of genres but mostly thrillers and mysteries.
MJ Quinn
MJ is a literary fiction writer, retired attorney, and active genealogist (proud of Neanderthal ancestry). His broad educational background includes degrees from Schiller International University, Weber State University, and New York Law School. Culinary interests feature schnitzel, chicken curry, borsch (potato not cabbage), and rhubarb — but not all together. He enjoys good science fiction video and mystery writing but is unpredictably selective.
Emma Van Arnam
Emma is a Mitchell College graduate who loves fantasy and fairy tale books, friends, and family above all else and aspires to be an author one day. When her nose is not stuck in a book, she likes to write reviews on Goodreads, take walks, and spend time with the ones she loves.
A longtime lover of fantasy, fairy tales, and Disney.
Maddie Fitzpatrick
Maddie is a Darien High School senior involved in many activities in and out of school. She is a cheerleader and part of a crocheting club at school. In her free time, she does gardening in her family's backyard where they grow various fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
Rose Curtin
When she’s not spending time with her grandchildren, Rose enjoys sharing her great talents for crafting and baking with her family and her friends at Darien Library.
Knowledge & Learning Services
Brittany Netherton
Brittany is a big believer in the healing power of a good laugh. A New England transplant who is very proud of her Appalachian roots, she can work Kentucky into any conversation if you give her long enough. She's always down to chat about comics, banned books, and Kentucky (see, I told you!). Outside of work, she lives her best life hiking, gardening, thrifting, and working on puzzles and embroidery projects.
Blanche Parker
Blanche likes to spend her vacation time in her hometown where she grew up in North Carolina.
Maria Banke
Maria joined the Help Desk team after several decades as an IT professional in the financial industry. A long-time Darien resident, Maria spends her spare time volunteering for local organizations, sharing her wealth of IT knowledge!
Deb Carella
Deb is a native Darienite who spent many younger years in the old Library using all resources available for research and writing. As an avid sports fan, she was captain of the Field Hockey and Softball Teams at DHS, and today you can often find her cheering on the Giants, Rangers, and Mets. Her home away from home is Pear Tree Point beach; you will find her swimming, reading memoirs and realistic fiction stories, or just contemplating life.
Sarah Faeth
Sarah is a geriatric millennial raised on Roald Dahl and Radiohead. An omnivorous reader, her Library wishlist spans neuroscience to thrillers--ask her what's on it!
Tiffany Ling
Tiffany is an undergraduate student at Pace University. Never one to pass up a good book (especially a whodunnit), she enjoys writing for the University’s Honors College Blog, where she maintains a column about her recent reads! And of course, this wouldn’t be a ‘Tiffany’ bio without mention of her border collie, Bindi. Ask her any time to show you a picture of her dog, and she will happily oblige!
Mary-Beth Mason
Mary-Beth enjoys learning and sharing technology in computer classes and tech help sessions. Her favorite reads include almost everything in Body & Soul, suspenseful thrillers, and the classics. She enjoys hiking, live music, and being by the shore.
Kristen Orth
Kristen is enthusiastic about people and building community. Her reading interests include weird facts, sweeping narratives, and emotionally devastating poetry. Outside of the Library, you can find her working on overly-ambitious craft projects or basking in the sunlight.
Alice Schaumann
Growing up visiting her local library helped Alice develop a love for reading, and today she can usually be found absorbed in a mystery, a family saga, or any other novel with a dynamic cast of characters. Outside of the Library, she enjoys cooking, throwing pottery, and playing games with friends and family.
Adrian Nordgren
Adrian's literary tastes range from contemporary queer romance novels to the works of Charles Dickens. When they're not reading or working at the library, they can usually be found drinking iced coffee and watching Star Trek. They also really, really like birds.
Gavin Knouse
Gavin is a recent literature and film studies graduate from a small college in Pennsylvania. In their free time, they love to watch old "cult classic" films, read comics and pulp fiction, and contribute to online archives. Ever since they were just a kid, they've always held a passion for keeping knowledge accessible.
Slim Jim
As the Library's premier Reference Skeleton, Slim Jim is always ready to lend his phalanges to patrons! He loves helping nursing students learn the skeletal system and serving as a model for artists. His hobbies include being an influencer on Instagram, waving to our youngest visitors, and exchanging postcards with his pen pals.
Readers' Advisory Services
Virginia Grubbs
Virginia's favorite genres include thrillers and suspense, mysteries, general fiction, chick-lit and young adult books featuring a dystopian society. Aside from books, she also loves movies and suspenseful TV series. She's a proud Texan enjoying life in Connecticut.
Ann
Ann appreciates literary fiction that evokes place and time with well-developed characters. She is also a fan of historical fiction, thrillers, and memoirs.
Barbara "Babs" Blake
Babs can't get enough of Historical Fiction-it just transports her back to that period in time and she loves it! She also has to mention that her 12-year-old grandson just devours books which makes her deliriously happy!
Jill Maguire
Jill loves chatting with patrons about their latest reads! While she gravitates toward new fiction dramas, she enjoys a wide range of genres. An avid learner, she is always open to sharing her love of reading, diverse interests, and commitment to community engagement.
Sarah-Ruth Tasko
Sarah-Ruth is a librarian who loves contemporary fiction, horror, queer literature, and poetry. She enjoys exploring New England with family, hiking, hanging out with her cat, and listening to audiobooks while doing jigsaw puzzles.
Inger Vilter
Inger is an avid reader, loves to knit, and to travel! Most of all, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
Pat Tone
Pat is a big fan of audiobooks and is always happy to show people how easy it is to download a good audiobook from the digital content on Overdrive and Hoopla. A good narrator and a great story are the perfect pairings for a delightful listening experience! When she is not working at the Library, she is baking, gardening, or playing with her grand-dogs!
Cathy Condren
Cathy is a retired lawyer with two grown children. She lives in Darien with her husband and cat and enjoys reading literary fiction, memoirs, legal thrillers, detective mysteries, and cookbooks. She also loves spending time with people she loves, bird-watching, animals, volunteering, and road trips.
Tween & Teen Services
Mia Orobona
Mia is our resident teen wrangler. When she is not at the Library, she spends a lot of her time trying to find the best ice cream in Connecticut, going on real runs and Target runs, and of course, reading books. She’s open to reading anything but is most fond of YA realistic fiction and graphic novels with strong female characters.
Jenna Mushin
Jenna is a new professional librarian ready to take on Teen Services! She loves to read horror, graphic novels, and any queer romance story, but will read anything from most genres. When not at the Library, she enjoys singing, playing the ukulele, watching TV shows, and playing with her dog, Darwin, and her cat, Luna. She also can speak Mandarin Chinese at an intermediate level.
Nicole Versanti
Nicole is a Teen Services Assistant and considers herself to be a classic nerd. She loves to play Dungeons & Dragons, attend comic cons, and talk TV shows, movies, and books. In her free time, she loves to travel and read on the beach or play with her dog Bella.
User Experience & Technology
Amanda L. Goodman
Amanda is a librarian who loves mountains, genealogy, and fandom. She wants to travel the world—after she finishes this story.
Megan Cunningham
Megan is a voracious book dragon with a love for all things fantasy and archaeology. When she’s not curled up in a Halloween sweater with her favorite book, you can find her crafting, writing, or exploring the Great Outdoors. (Don’t tell anyone, but we suspect she’s actually a magical sword-swinging warrior from another dimension.)
Craig Gates
Craig is a fan of true crime and mystery books. He also enjoys spending time with his dogs and riding his motorcycles.
Caitlin Stote
Caitlin has been working part time at Darien Library since 2007. The Library is her sanctuary.