Beaver Crossing’s library has expanded.
The all-volunteer library in the town’s business district now offers a “little free library” out front, allowing readers to take a book for their own collections from a repurposed newspaper vending box.
Diane Hobson prepped and painted the box they were given by the Seward County Independent and found the book-reading beaver illustrations that A.J. Hansen’s Cordova Customs used to create decals for it.
They anticipate changing the books out periodically to offer a variety of books for children and adults, and perhaps creating special collections around the community’s Halloween, Beaver Daze and Christmas in the Village celebrations.
The box expands the availability of books to the community.
The library is open on Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings, getting some regular users and some occasional readers stopping by. There is not a rush to get in the library during those hours, but as Hobson said, “there is always someone that wants a book.”
Board members Marilyn Bechtel, Debra Fette, Diane Hobson, RaNay Kratochvil, Karen Lovel, Linda Luebbe and C. Jo Petersen manage and update the library’s collection regularly and take care of operations and marketing as volunteers. Elaine Phillips and Linda Eberspacher are considered emeriti volunteers.
All of them are retired and share a love for reading, as well as strong ties to the Beaver Crossing community.
They are the continuation of a long line of community residents – mostly women – who have grown this library, boardmembers note.
The community received a gift from the Mae and Herman Geis Family to fund the 1981 purchase of the building, which is owned by a trust.
Later a bequest from Leona Ihde gave $1 million each to be endowed for the communities of Beaver Crossing and Friend.
The library has used funds from Beaver Crossing’s Ihde endowment to modernize the interior of their building and its shelving units, making the library a bright, colorful place to browse through books, jigsaw puzzles and community history.
“We try to get out there that we have newer books,” Petersen said.
“Everybody is impressed when they come in,” Luebbe said.
The walls are spotted with photos of individuals and families who have made a difference for the Beaver Crossing Library – Joan Kennel and Alta Krasser, who created a history book,
Longtime advocate Ruth Gard’s photo is there.
Luebbe’s aunt, Betty Geis, is there, as well as her daughter, Julie Geis, who died in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
Her son, Mike Geis, contributed a framed arrangement of old Beaver Crossing photos for display at the library.
Luebbe recalls her aunt’s commitment to the library.
“I spent many a day in here with her,” she said.
Last summer Luebbe and Fette created a route tracking the original Oregon Trail and took more than 25 people down the trail site as a library event.
Some summers they have worked with Centennial Public and St. Paul Luthern Schools to offer some kind of reading program or at least stamp students’ reading program documents to confirm the books they have read.
Younger readers often stop on their way home from the pool for books.
The library’s new project is a locally authored cookbook collection featuring a variety of books from churches, families and other groups. At this time the collection is available for viewing and copying only, Bechtel said.
