Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, Executive Director, Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS)

Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, a powerful advocate for public libraries, is the executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS) in Hudson, New York. In addition, she is a certified sustainable building advisor (CSBA) and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP). Smith Aldrich holds an advanced certificate in Public Library Administration from the Palmer School of Library and Information Science at Long Island University, where she is also an adjunct professor. She is a founding member of ALA’s Sustainability Roundtable and helped to pass the ALA Resolution on the Importance of Sustainable Libraries in 2015. Smith Aldrich was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2010 and writes a sustainability column for the journal. A prolific writer, Smith Aldrich is the author of Sustainable Thinking: Ensuring Your Library’s Future in an Uncertain World. She has also contributed chapters to Better Library Design (Rowman and Littlefield) and The Green Library (Library Juice Press). Like Drabinski, Smith Aldrich has given numerous presentations and keynote addresses at venues that include IFLA, the Association of Rural and Small Libraries Conference, the US Embassy in Peru, the American Library Association Annual Conference and the New York Library Association Conference.