Carol and William Christ

Honorary Campaign Co-chairs

In 1949, Gideon and Alice Kreider responded to the need for a permanent home for Annville’s Library. I was just a young child, but their gift to our town inspired me. As an avid reader, I used the Library to fill my every need for books, children’s programs, and community services. Throughout the years, I proudly transitioned from patron to volunteer, Children’s Librarian, and, ultimately, Library Director. Over time, the Library has continued to change and adapt, as needed, to serve the broader community while retaining a culture of friendliness and helpfulness among the staff and volunteers.

After seventy years, the Library has again outgrown its home. The proposed expansion is lovely and is appropriate to the streetscape within Annville’s historic district. Bill and I are pleased to continue the Kreiders’ generous spirit by making a financial gift to the Library’s expansion project. We are honored to serve as honorary co-chairs and hope you will be inspired, too, to extend the opportunities for learning and growth within our community.

The story of the Annville Free Library has always featured the close association of the Library with its community. We invite you to join us in investing in this vital capital campaign. Please help us write the next chapter in Annville Free Library’s mission to serve current and future generations.

Martin Brandt

President, Annville Free Library Board of Directors
Co-chair, Writing the Next Chapter Capital Campaign Committee

When Marty retired to his hometown of Annville after a career of work and travel as a geophysicist and project manager with Chevron, he dedicated energy and talent not only to his beehives but also to serving his community. With a committee of volunteer fellow residents, he helped to update and revise the entire zoning ordinance for Annville Township and continues to serve on the Zoning Hearing Board. As a boat captain and narrator, he helps the Friends of the Union Canal Tunnel Park preserve the history of the oldest transportation tunnel in the US, located in Lebanon County.

For more than ten years, he has provided leadership as a Trustee and then on the Board of Directors of Annville Free Library, working to ensure that the library remains financially strong, the building safe, warm, and dry, and that the library will adapt and serve into the future. With fellow Board members, staff, and interested residents, Marty has co-led the effort to expand the library to meet the challenges ahead. The local library, especially through its summer reading programs for youth, first introduced Marty to the wider world and piqued his curiosity to learn more. He Is passionate about providing future generations of youth in the Annville-Cleona area those same opportunities to grow and learn as they begin their journeys.

Frank Yeager

Treasurer, Annville Free Library Board of Directors
Co-chair, Writing the Next Chapter Capital Campaign Committee

Frank was raised in the Annville-Cleona area and graduated A-C High. He attended Lebanon Valley College where he was awarded a degree in Business and Economics. He furthered his education at the University of Pittsburgh obtaining an MBA. For 25 years he taught business and computer application courses at Jamestown Community College in western New York before returning to Lebanon County in 1993. He continued his teaching career at HACC-Lebanon Campus until 2015 and served in several administrative positions.

Frank has been on the Board of Directors of Annville Free Library since 2012, serving as Treasurer and for one year as President. Frank is currently the co-chair of the capital campaign, Writing the Next Chapter.

Dee L. Neff

Director, Annville Free Library

Dee was born and raised in Ephrata, Lancaster County. She attended the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and then transferred to Penn State University’s main campus where she graduated in 1975 with a BA in English Literature. Dee worked in Pattee Library on PSU’s main campus for ten years before moving with her husband and daughter to Hershey in 1990. In 1991 the family had a son and moved to Cleona. They currently reside in Annville along with their dogs, cats, and chickens. In the fall of 1998 Dee became the Director of the Annville Free Library. In 2008 she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a master’s degree in Library and Information Science. Working at the Annville Free Library has been a unique and fulfilling experience. When she is not working at the library, Dee can be found crafting, reading, or playing ukulele and guitar.