Management

Leslie Straus

President

After graduating with a library science degree from the University of Toronto, Leslie started her library career as a cataloger at York University Libraries in Toronto.  She has remained associated with library technical services for the last 30+ years, working within companies that serve libraries including Coutts Library Services, UTLAS and Innovative Interfaces.  In 2006 she retired from Innovative as VP of Worldwide Sales after 21 years with the company, mostly in the areas of sales, marketing and product management.   In 2009, she was invited to lead SkyRiver through its infancy to full production mode .

Lynne Branche Brown

Vice President for Operations

Lynne Branche Brown is a librarian with an MLS from Simmons College. She held technical services positions at Penn State University Libraries early in her career. Lynne moved into the library book vendor industry from there, becoming VP and then Chief Operating Officer at Yankee Book Peddler (YBP Library Services). In 1998 she turned to library technology, joining Innovative Interfaces as a Customer Sales Consultant. She held this position for several years before becoming product manager for Innovative’s Union Database and Resource Sharing software. She became SkyRiver’s VP for Operations in January 2010.

Michael Markwith

Sales Executive

Michael Markwith’s career began at the Richard Abel Company with various management responsibilities related to approval plans. He then became the Head of Acquisitions & Serials at Binghamton University in NY, responsible for all aspects of acquisitions including pre-order cataloging. From there he returned to the commercial side of libraries where he held sales and management positions with Blackwell North America, YBP, Faxon, and Swets. He was President of TDNet, Inc., responsible for establishing its U.S. office and overseeing both sales and operations. Markwith held a senior sales position with W.T. Cox prior to joining SkyRiver with responsibility for sales and developing new products for academic and public libraries. He has been a steadfast contributor to the library community as an active member of ALA and NASIG, speaking on library/vendor relations, and publishing many articles.