2024 Candidates

The candidate bios below are written by the candidates themselves and listed in alphabetical order by last name.  More information about the library board and its current members can be found on our Board of Trustees page.

Cassie Baker:  I am a native Texan and I have lived in Wells Branch for the past three years and the greater Austin area since 2008. As a candidate for the library trustee position, I offer over 15 years of experience in working in state government and a strong history of volunteering with various organizations. I am a certified voter deputy registrar and am dedicated to civic engagement and advocating for people's rights, including equal access. My educational background includes a bachelor's degree in Applied Arts and Sciences, along with a certificate in American Sign Language Interpretation and Deaf Studies. Passionate about community, I am committed to enhancing our local library system’s resources and accessibility for all.

Abigail Joffrain: Abigail Joffrain is the current President of the Wells Branch Community Library Board of Trustees. She joined the board by appointment to fill a vacancy in January 2021 and was elected to the position in 2022. She served as treasurer of the board her first year and has been president since February 2022. She has worked with Jennifer Christmas and Donita Ward on the committee overseeing the upcoming library renovations and has focused on ensuring our renovations increase accessibility to all in the community.    Abbie has a Masters in Linguistics and a Bachelors in both Linguistics and Government from the University of Texas at Austin. She and her husband have lived in the Austin area for more than 25 years and in Wells Branch since 2007. She has been visiting and bringing her two children and her nieces and nephews to the WBCL for 15+ years. Abbie grew up in libraries, both as patron and volunteer. In college she worked in the UT libraries and has regularly volunteered in libraries throughout her life. She has a deep love of books, libraries and firmly believes in the right to read.  Abbie is grateful to the library for all of the resources it provides to our community and to those who helped establish it in our neighborhood. She would be honored to serve on the board for another term to continue to maintain and expand the library resources, and to help make our library ever more accessible to the whole community.

Jennifer Klein:  Jennifer Klein is a lifelong reader who grew up bringing home stacks of books from her tiny hometown library in Henrietta, Texas. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from TCU, a Master of Science in Foreign Service degree from Georgetown University, and a Master of Education degree from George Mason University. She was a high school literature teacher in Mexico, an elementary school English language teacher in Japan, and a grant writer for a refugee organization in Guinea. For more than 16 years, she focused on improving the quality of education for the world’s poorest children through her education policy research at the World Bank. This work required skills in data analysis and financial analysis that she would bring to the library board. She and her husband moved to Wells Branch in 2015 and adopted their son from foster care in 2019. She is now the steward of the Kissman Drive Little Free Library and a regular volunteer at the St. Andrews Food Pantry. Every first and third Thursday night, she can be found at the library attending the Traveling Tea Book Club or the Women, Wine, and Words Book Club. She loves the Wells Branch Community Library, appreciates the amazing work of the librarians, and looks forward to helping the library continue serving our community.

Elizabeth Martin: Since 2009, I have made Wells Branch my home, raising my family, establishing a career in education, becoming an active community volunteer, and building a small business. With a Bachelor of Arts in Education and a teaching certification from Texas State University, I bring over a decade of experience working in Round Rock ISD schools. My volunteer work includes serving on the Wells Branch Elementary PTA as both Parliamentarian and Volunteer Coordinator. I am also the Parent and Community Liaison for the school garden committee, which recently revitalized the garden into an outdoor reading and learning space. You may know me from my involvement in the neighborhood Buy Nothing and Wells Branch Parents Facebook groups, or from seeing me deliver WBNA newsletters with my young kids in tow. To me, the Wells Branch Community Library is a cornerstone of lifelong learning, culture, and community. As a Trustee, I will work to ensure equitable access to resources that support educational programs in literacy, music, arts, science, engineering, and technology. My plans include enhancing community engagement by expanding the children’s area with enriching family experiences, creating more opportunities for local businesses to collaborate in Arts at the Library events, and updating technology and digital resources. I am excited about the opportunity to bring my passion for education and community-building to the Wells Branch Community Library Board of Trustees.

Madison Swenson: Madison Swenson has lived in the Wells Branch community for two years with her husband and two wonderful stepchildren. She holds a Master's of Science in Social Work from the University of Texas, and both an Honors BA in Public Policy and a BS in Human Services from the University of Delaware. She is a licensed social worker and is currently employed in program compliance at Children's Advocacy Centers of Texas where she supports nonprofits across the state. Madison has been committed to volunteering throughout her life and has been an active volunteer with CASA of Travis County since moving to Texas 8 years ago. She has coached soccer for the Wells Branch Soccer Association and enjoys gardening at the Wells Branch Community Garden. Madison loves the Wells Branch Library and hopes to serve on the board to further its mission.