Love joins library board

With the resignation of Bonnie Castillo, the Gibson Memorial Library Board of Trustees was one member short. However, this position was filled before Monday night’s board meeting with the introduction of Alyssa Love.

Love first learned about the position from Castillo and was instantly interested.

“When Bonnie reached out, I was like, alright, I’ll do it! I’ll just see what happens,” Love said. “I really was not expecting how fast everything went. It just seemed like a fun opportunity. Having some kind of connection to [the library] is something I’ve always wanted.”

An Afton resident, Love lives with her husband Tyler and 8-year-old son Sebastian. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Simpson College last May and is hoping to open a bookstore in Afton.

“I’ve been working on trying to start a bookstore. We bought a building, but it’s in disarray. It will take a while to get together,” Love said. Her husband has also started his own business. “He just started Dandy Love’s Recreations. He’ll be at Market on Maple on May 11, it will be his first show, so that’s exciting.”

Already a book lover, the library has become an extra special place for Love’s family due to its children’s programming.

“We came to the Noon Years Eve party this year, and that was a blast for him. Anything we can come and do like the scavenger hunts, those are his favorite,” Love said. “I love seeing his enjoyment of the the library, and then afterwards I’ll pick some books and he’ll pick some books and then we’ll go home and read them.”

As a life-long reader, Love had a hard time deciding on a favorite book. Instead, she gave three.

“If I had to say from my childhood, it would be “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry. That’s one of the very first books I remember really feeling, the imagery was really hitting me,” Love said. Her favorite romance novel is “The Hope of You” by S. L. Astor. “She is a newer writer. A lot of her books talk about things like anxiety, very much representation for things that I kind of understand.”

In terms of adult fiction, Love said her favorite author is Silvia Moreno-Garcia, specifically the novel “Mexican Gothic.” “It has a cool sciency aspect to it, worth the read, really like it. She’s very detail-oriented when describing her characters.”