Meet the Staff
- Heidi Leeper, Library Director
Heidi started at the library in 2023. She has worked in libraries since 2010. Before coming to Middletown, she served as the Library Director at the Mount Pleasant Public Library in Westmoreland County. She got her start in libraries at Nyack College while completing her Masters of Divinity Degree at Alliance Theological Seminary, then continuing to work at Nyack’s New York City Campus Library while she pursued the start of her library sciences degree. After Nyack she worked in Hillman Library for the University of Pittsburgh as a Library Specialist. Her favorite books currently is The Midnight Library by Matt Haig and The Crimson Cord by Jill Eileen Smith, however you can find her reading historical fiction, theology, and many other areas. She has a passion for connecting with people and is looking forward to becoming an active part of the Middletown Community.
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Madelyn Sheridan, Children and Youth Librarian
Maddie started working at the library in 2023. She lives in Lancaster. She loves coming in and working with the children each week! She enjoys reading sci-fi, fantasy, and history nonfiction the most, but also enjoys anything that shows her something new.
- Daphne Hess, Library Aide
Daphne started as a volunteer in 2013 and a staff member in 2014. She is delighted to come to work each week. She enjoys reading mystery, fantasy, comedy, and sometimes suspense/horror books. Her all-time favorite author is Diana Gabaldon and she can be lost for days in one of her novels.
- Jeri Blanch, Library Aide
Jeri has been volunteering for the library since 2013. She lives in Highspire. She has always been a voracious reader and likes being around books, interacting with the patrons, and learning new things. She reads a variety of genres-biographies, history, philosophy, inspirational, classics, light mysteries, historical fiction, and just plain old good stories.
- Christine Paumer, Library Aide
Christine moved to Middletown in 2002 from the state of Indiana and became a patron of the library from the first week she moved here. Her children were 3 and 1 years old at the time and it was a great place to get movies for them to watch. She has always been an avid reader, but really enjoy mysteries and any books that take place during Christmas. Now that her kids are 21 and 19, she have more time and enjoy working at the library to have access to new authors.
- Hannah Lawler, Library Aide
Hannah started working at the library in 2022. She lives in Lower Swatara Township. She loves reading about physiology, anthropology, folklore, and the other wonderful things that make us human. Her favorite thing about working at the library is getting to help members of our community take advantage of all the great resources that the library has to offer.
- Amanda Straw, Library Aide
Amanda started as a staff member in 2023 but her love of Middletown Public Library starts earlier! She was a Youth Services volunteer from 1997 until she graduated from Middletown Area High School in 2001, and served as a Youth Services intern in the summer of 2002. In 2015 she completed her Master’s degree in American Studies at Penn State Harrisburg. She prefers reading non-fiction, especially books about linguistics, psychology, religion, and online culture, and some recommended fiction. She enjoys the technical side of library work and assisting patrons with technical questions and problems.