Pavilion awaits grand opening

All work on Gibson Memorial Library’s new pavilion has been completed, the job being completed with the addition of bricks to the base of the beams, which match the library itself.

The pavilion has been a structure long-time coming, with original plans beginning in spring 2023. Inspiration was taken from the Lied Public Library in Clarinda.

Still waiting on outdoor furniture to arrive, the library hopes to host a ribbon cutting and grand opening for the pavilion upon arrival. The projected ribbon cutting date is July 31, the final day of the library’s summer reading program. A grand opening event will be held at a later date.

While all official work on the pavilion is done, a few suggestions were made for future improvements on the pavilion by the city inspector.

“He had a couple recommendations, one being that we add gutters, which, now that we’ve had a couple of hard rains, I totally agree,” library director Danielle Dickinson Thaden said. “He also recommended treating the wood [in the future] and sealing the concrete underneath.”

The library has hosted a number of events for their summer reading program in the finished pavilion already, including Talewise Science Heroes June 12, a magician on June 26 and a “Messtival” July 3.

In other library news...

Judy Johnson has been hired as a library assistant following Merle Lee Pugh’s retirement.

The library was named the July Gold-Star Business by the Creston Chamber of Commerce, a program in which community members nominate area businesses for good customer service.

The library has moved to a new way of using streaming service Kanopy, with the entire catalog now available. The new system has more media available for library members, with a limited amount of views allowed per month.