Library director resigns

Gibson Memorial Library Director Gabriel Chrisman put in his resignation at Monday’s library board meeting. At the end of October, he will leave Creston to become the director of libraries at Graceland University in Lamoni.

Chrisman became director at Gibson Memorial in August 2022, living with his wife Sarah in Garden Grove. The commute to work for Chrisman is about one hour one way.

“It feels pretty bad to be jumping off to go somewhere else, but I can’t really ignore the opportunity,” Chrisman said. “[Graceland University] is radically closer to my home, pays a little bit more and involves teaching a digital literacy course that’s required for all students, which is a nice little enticement as well, because that would be a lot of fun to do.”

While excited about this new position, Chrisman said he wishes he would have been able to finish some of his projects in Creston.

“I particularly wish I could carry some of the things that I got going to some sort of completion,” Chrisman said. “I have negotiated with them so I can at least be here through the end of the month, try to see the pavilion really off and rolling.”

In other library board news…

After months of planning, the library board has a construction schedule for the building of an outdoor pavilion.

Site prep, concrete and electrical will likely be done by the end of October, with pavilion construction starting mid-November.

The idea of an outdoor pavilion was first brought up by Chrisman in January after the library expansion plan was halted due to rising prices.

“We discovered that the fundraising has not been keeping up with the increasing costs of construction,” Chrisman said.

In March, the board suggested adding parking to the library’s property, which soon became part of the pavilion project.

Bids for the pavilion, loosely based off of Lied Public Library’s pavilion in Clarinda, were approved by the library board Sept. 11 and by the Creston City Council Sept. 19.

The library board still has an open board position. Those interested in joining the board can ask for more information at the library’s front desk.

Library cards have a new look. Designed by Programming Specialist Heather Pingree, the cards are green with the library’s logo. While some of the old cards are left to hand out, new ones will go into effect soon.