Creston Library Board voted 3-0 Monday evening to accept the resignation of Marilyn Ralls, director at Gibson Memorial Library, effective March 31.
Jean Ide, vice chairman of the library board, said the resignation came during a closed session with Ralls around 6:30 p.m. Monday. Voting to approve the resignation were Jeromy Brown, Ide and Connie Maxson. Absent were board chairman Ann Coulter and Josh Borgmann. Ralls has been director at Gibson Memorial Library for 12 years.
Ralls declined to comment this morning as to why she resigned.
Ide thanked Ralls for her time as director and wished her well in the future.
“I appreciate everything she’s done,” Ide said.
Ide said the board will now focus on assigning an “acting director” for Gibson Memorial Library and will soon begin discussion on the hire of the next director.
Third architect
Meanwhile, Creston Library Board continued discussions Monday to move forward with a library expansion. The board has already met with and interviewed OPN Architects and Invision Architecture of Des Moines. The board will meet with a third architect firm — FEH Associates of Des Moines — later this month.
They will then hire one of these three firms to tell them the strengths and weaknesses of the current library site on Howard Street and which direction to expand. The board does plan to present all expansion possibility to the public sometime after the hire of the architect.
Donation
In 2014, a house in Omaha, Neb., was donated to the Creston Library Board by Edwin and the late Virginia (Stamper) Van Surksum.
The board sold that house for $95,000 in the summer of 2014 and those funds were to be used to help transform Lincoln School into the city’s new library. Virginia was a teacher at Lincoln School when it was in use.
However, Creston City Council sold Lincoln School in August 2014 to Seldin Company of Omaha, Neb., which has plans of turning the building into senior housing.
Still, Edwin Van Surksum has told city officials the sell of the house and other funds he’s donated can be used for further expansion of library services in Creston.
Mandy Houk, marketing consultant for the board, said she’d contact Edwin about the possibility of setting up a special event to thank him for his continued support.