Final library board position filled

After over a year of having open seats on the Gibson Memorial Library’s Board of Trustees, Steve Lane has filled the final vacant position. Lane, a retired school superintendent, first found out about the position due to his friendship with board vice president Connie Maxson.

“She and I have been friends for a number of years. Both of us were superintendents in southwest Iowa and got to know each other that way,” Lane said. “She had contacted me said, ‘By the way, there’s a vacancy on the library board that we’ve been trying to fill for a while. Would you be interested in doing something like that?’ That’s how that came about. I don’t say no very well.”

Lane has worked with libraries through his career as a superintendent. When serving for Orient-Macksburg schools, Lane helped move the Orient Public Library into the school building.

After retiring, Lane said he moved to Creston with his wife.

“Me and my wife moved here a little bit more than two years ago, so I just thought maybe it was time for me to get involved in the community a bit,” Lane said. “I have a library card here now.”

Lane said he’s excited about some of the programs the library has and hopes to make sure they continue

“I’m just kind of hoping that we can do some improvements, and I think the library has already started on that with their addition,” Lane said. “That’s the type of thing I guess I’d like to see, see the library grow and get involved in. Looking through the minutes, there were a number of things that the library did that I wasn’t aware of and I’d like to make sure we keep all that going.”

Lane’s favorite books show his past in education.

“I was a history teacher too, so I guess I’d have to say World War II books, just about any book about World War II, because my dad was in the war. It’s fascinating to me, a little bit, I guess, just because of the history,” Lane said. “Another set of books that I really enjoy are Jonathon Kozol’s books. He wrote books on schools, basically lack of educational materials in schools.”

In other library board news...

The opening of the new pavilion has been pushed back a few months, with fabrication on the pavilion structure starting in February. Concrete work has already been completed, and the library hopes to hold a grand opening in April. New parking off the alley is already open, though lines have yet to be painted.

The board approved the library starting a therapy dog program, in which children can chose timeslots to read to a therapy dog. This idea was brought to library staff by Dr. Kristen Krakovec, who owns a great dane/poodle mix already used for therapy in the hospital. Though no specific plans have been set, the Director Danielle Dickinson Thaden suggested hour long sessions, starting out on the weekends.

The board decided to put a hold on the circulation of library books to classes due to concerns of legality with Senate File 496. A number of books owned by the library are on a list banned from schools, and the board worried about the liability of bringing those books in.