Gail Vielbig inherited her life-long attachment to Shelter Island – her parents met here in the 1920s when her mother was a camper at the Doctor Pettit Camp and her father a sailing instructor nearby. She, and her husband, Peter, have been home owners here since 1974. In addition to Gail’s 6th grade year at the Shelter Island School and in the Presbyterian Church Choir, she became a full-time Islander in 2002.
Gail’s passion for books is also life-long. Her connection to libraries began with her first job in high school as a page in the Great Neck Public Library and continued when she worked at the Freeport Memorial Library and later at Firestone Library, at Princeton University where she and Peter lived for almost 40 years.
A summa cum laud graduate of the College of New Jersey, Gail holds a B.A. degree in English and Psychology and has studied at the University of Copenhagen and Princeton University, where she worked in several capacities for 17 years, including as an Employment Specialist in Human Resources. Prior to that, she served on Princeton’s President’s Committee on the Status of Women, was elected Chair of the Board of the Faculty and Staff Facility, President of the Princeton University Women’s Organization, a member of the University’s Sexual Harassment Panel and headed its Fairness Review Panel.
A wide range of volunteer activities underscore Gail’s commitment to community, including Recording for the Blind, Hospice, the League of Women Voters and school boards. On Shelter Island, she sits on the Board of the Garden Club and of the Friends of the Shelter Island Public Library. When she’s not reading, she can be found needle pointing.
Gail is a behavioral health counselor, currently working at Eastern Long Island Hospital.
