Board of Trustees
Katya Blitsman, President
Katya became a full time resident of Pine Hill in 2021. It didn’t take her long to fall in love with this beautiful and quirky place and to develop deep ties with the community here. Katya also serves as member of the Board of Trustees for the Pine Hill Community Center. She works full time in healthcare analytics, but in her free time loves to read bake, garden, and explore the beauty of the surrounding Catskills.
Katya’s Book Recommendation: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Sam Litton, Vice President
After several years in New York City, Sam and his husband purchased a home in Pine Hill in 2021 and became a full-time resident in 2023. They live with their two dogs. Like many in the Catskills, he was drawn here by a strong appreciation of nature and a desire to spend more time outdoors. He’s also a volunteer with New York New Jersey Trails Council.
Sam’s most recent book check-out at the library: Beaver Land by Leila Philip.
Ashleigh Lovelace, Secretary
Ashleigh has been a resident of Phoenicia since 2018, when she moved to the Catskills with her husband James to start a small organic vegetable farm. She is an editor at Chronogram and a committee member and volunteer for the Phoenicia Farmers Market. As a former recipe editor and beginning farmer, Ashleigh has a deep love of cooking and all things food.
Ashleigh’s Book Recommendation: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat by Samin Nosrat.
Harold Augenbraum, Treasurer
Harold Augenbraum is former Executive Director of the National Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards; Director of The Mercantile Library of New York, now the Center for Fiction; editor of The Yale Review, and Co-Founder of the Yale Translation Initiative. Among his publications, he translated the Filipino novelist José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, co-edited seven books on U.S. Latino Literature, and edited the bilingual Collected Poems of Marcel Proust.
Book recommendation: All the Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby
James Nevin
Jim and his wife Nancy have been residents of Pine Hill for over 30 years, attracted by the natural beauty of the Catskills and the vibrancy of its local communities. Jim is now a full-time video artist after also devoting much of his professional life to software engineering. He enjoys hiking in all seasons and in the winter looks forward to lake ice skating. Before serving on the Board of the Morton Library, Jim served as President of the Pine Hill Community Center.
Jim’s most recent book check-out at the library: Robert Wright’s Why Buddhism is True.
Sandra Gambetti
Sandra purchased her Pine Hill home in 2017 and later Covid made her and her husband full-time residents. She became a Professor of Greco-Roman history at CUNY after earning her PhD from UC Berkeley long ago. She has published articles and a book in her field of research. An old-time humanist addicted to books, she shares her house with her ever-growing personal library, with a little room left for everything else, including her gentle and understanding husband. She is member of the board since December 2024.
Michael Connor
Michael and his wife, Noni, have owned a home in Phoenicia for more than 30 years and have been full-time residents since 2020. In addition to the library board, he also serves as president of Phoenicia Playhouse board of directors. Michael is a former media executive and journalist (The Wall Street Journal, ABC News), who now leads a nonprofit organization that advocates for greater corporate accountability in the development and deployment of digital technologies. A Brooklyn native, he is a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees.
Michael’s Book Recommendation: The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride.
Board Meeting Dates
Jan- 1/7/25
Feb- 2/11/25
March- 3/11/25
April- 4/8/25
May- 5/13/25
June- 6/10/25
July- 7/8/25
Aug- 8/12/25
Sept- 9/9/25
Oct- 10/14/25
Nov- 11/11/25
Dec- 12/9/25
All board meetings start at 6 pm and are open to the public.
Minutes of previous meetings are available here.
Staff
Gisi Vella, Director
Gisi has been the director of the Pine Hill Library since 2018. After relocating from Astoria to Phoenicia in the Catskill Mountains, she found a community that felt like home, reminiscent of the Black Forest. Gisi and her husband Allen initially bought a weekend house, but soon made Phoenicia their full-time residence. An active community member, she volunteers at the Phoenicia Farmers Market and participates in PH2. Gisi enjoys reading, spending time with her family and pets, and exploring the natural beauty of the Catskills.
