About LALE
Encourage Intellectual Exploration
The Los Altos Library Endowment (LALE) was established with the desire to support our community to maintain a library that meets the needs of everyone. Back in the 1990s, a funding campaign was established to improve the Los Altos Library's balance between traditional literature and timely scientific, medical and technological materials. One of the gifts provided was an initial endowment to establish LALE. The Whipple donation contributed significantly to the size of the endowment.
One Woman’s Vision
Virginia Whipple grew up in rural New York state and was an English major at Syracuse University. Her career was focused on words. A technical editor for 34 years, she spent a decade working for the U.S. Navy and Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC. In 1957, she moved to the Bay Area to work at Lockheed. Ginnie, as she was more commonly known, had a love for the written word and for the library. One of her last requests was to bequeath $2.8 million to the Los Altos Library. It remains the largest single gift ever received by the Santa Clara County Library system.
The Whipple Collection comprises a comprehensive set of course offerings from The Teaching Company. A collection of audio and video CDs, now numbering over 1200, it was created and is kept current by grants from LALE. Access the collection online today!
Board of Directors
Freddie Park Wheeler, President
Freddie Park Wheeler is a retired attorney who most recently served as Vice President, Legal Affairs of a pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer. Prior to practicing law for 30 years, she served as Vice President Research & Development for a medical device manufacturer and a research microbiologist at The Ohio State University Medical Center. She is a Fellow of and has served on the board of the American Intellectual Property Law Association. Ms. Wheeler is a co-founder and steering committee member of Los Altos Residents, a local grassroots organization. She was appointed to the Los Altos Library Commission in 2019. Ms. Wheeler serves on the board of the Santa Clara County Library District Foundation and the Los Altos Library Endowment (LALE).
Suresh Shanmugham, Treasurer
Suresh Shanmugham is a venture capital investor with nearly 30 years of experience. He is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Saama Capital, an early stage VC firm. He has previously worked at SVB and McKinsey & Company.
Suresh is a firm believer in the power of mentorship and the importance of being involved with his local community. Suresh is a mentor in the AVID program at Mountain View High School. He is also mentor with The Peninsula College Fund where he works with first generation college students. Suresh has previously served on the Grants Committee of the Los Altos Mountain View Community Foundation.
Suresh graduated from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania with a BS in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Accounting.
Nancy Bhagat, Vice President
Nancy Bhagat is a seasoned marketing and business executive, working as the Chief Marketing Officer at Serviceaide, an AI based enterprise software company. She spent many years in the technology industry across software and hardware companies, including Intel. She is committed to making a difference professionally as well as personally.
Over the years, Nancy contributed to various non-profit organizations ranging from teaching English as a second language, to mentoring at risk youth. As a life long learner, she joined the Los Altos Library Endowment Board in 2018 and currently serves as the Vice President overseeing the Finance Committee. Nancy graduated from Gettysburg College with a double major in Business Administration and Political Science.
Cindy Hill
Cindy Hill is an experienced corporate library executive and currently leads the Research Library team at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Cindy is committed to improving literacy and is passionate about continual learning. She volunteered with Vision Literacy to work with incarcerated individuals to improve and strengthen their literacy skills.
Cindy is very active in the Los Altos and Los Altos Hills communities, serving on many non-profit boards and task forces including Silicon Valley Reads and the North County Library Agency and Los Altos Library Commission. Cindy is a past-president and Fellow of the international Special Libraries Association. One of Cindy’s favorite countries is Iceland because the first astronauts trained in their rugged terrain.
Lenelle Smith
Lenelle is currently a board member of both the Los Altos Library Endowment (LALE) and the Santa Clara County Library District Foundation. She has served three terms as LALE Board President. She has also served on the Los Altos Library Commission and the North County Library Authority. Lenelle believes the library is an important resource for learning at all ages.
In addition to her Library activities, Lenelle is a member of the American Marketing Association, and Phi Beta Kappa Northern California Association.
During a 35-year career in Marketing and Communications, Lenelle worked for DuPont and was Vice President of Marketing Strategy & Research at two ad agencies – Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, New York, and D’Arcy-Masius, Benton & Bowles, Bloomfield Hills, MI. When she returned to California in 2003, she retired from her company, Smith Communications.
Lenelle has a Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of Missouri and an MBA from New York University.
Join our Board of Directors!
Our library is a vital part of this community, and you can channel your enthusiasm for the library and related STEM programs by working on the Library Endowment Board.
We are seeking candidates with a passion for making a difference and have positions open that require a variety of skill sets. Preferred skills include Events, Communications & Marketing, Finance and Operations.