Rebekkah Smith Aldrich has served as executive director of the Mid-Hudson Library System (MHLS), a public library cooperative system that serves more than 600,000 Hudson Valley residents via 66 public libraries, since 2018. Rebekkah has risen through the ranks in her more than 25 years with the organization, working tirelessly to ensure Hudson Valley residents have access to viable, vital, and vibrant public libraries. In her role, Rebekkah has educated thousands of local library trustees, managed millions of dollars in grant funds that help support library services in the region, and worked with the board and staff to make MHLS the first public library system in the country to be certified through the Sustainable Libraries Initiative’s Sustainable Library Certification Program. With the steadfast belief that libraries are the backbone of a thriving community, Rebekkah co-founded The Library of Local Program, which is devoted to strengthening community resilience through public libraries and teamwork. She also co-authored a federal American Rescue Plan Act grant to address digital inclusion in the Hudson Valley, creating the largest cohort of Digital Navigators in the country and extending the Wi-Fi signals on over 40 library buildings. Rebekkah is also the creator of the Library Lab Project program, which helps library leaders experiment and share best practices for improving access to library services in the Hudson Valley. In addition to her noteworthy work at MHLS and within the Hudson Valley, Rebekkah is the co-founder and board president of the Sustainable Libraries Initiative (SLI) and principal author of the award-winning Sustainable Library Certification Program. Rebekkah is an active member of the American Library Association (ALA), most recently chairing the new Council Committee on Sustainability; serving on the board of the Center for the Future of Libraries; and as a founding board member of the Sustainability Round Table. She was recognized as a Library Journal Mover & Shaker in 2010 and was presented with the New York Library Association's Outstanding Service to Libraries Award in 2018. An adjunct professor at the Palmer School of Library & Information Science at Long Island University, Rebekkah serves as Library Journal's Sustainability columnist, and has written or co-edited three books for ALA Editions along with authoring the New York State Handbooks for New Directors and Trustees. Rebekkah is a frequent presenter and writer on the topic of leading libraries forward in smart, practical, and effective ways.