“A job that feels like it was built just for her.”
That is how incoming Lisbon Library director Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez described reading the position of Lisbon’s full-time library director. She has already had a week on the ground as the head librarian at Lisbon, and while she has had some passing of information on how things have been handled in the past, she said it has been a very smooth transition thus far.
“Amy [White, Lisbon’s library director retiring after 34 years in the job] has done so much of the hard work in her 34 years as director of the library that it has made this so easy to step into and I am excited to be ready to start running some programs in the library in the future,” Hoover de Galvez said.
One of those programs she is designing for later this year is a class that will tie into the Three Sisters cooking, helping people to learn about different styles of cooking Mexican cuisine. Her husband, Manuel, will help with the cooking portion of the class and that will utilize the adjacent space at the Southeast Linn Community Center and their commercial kitchen.
“I’m also looking forward to leading kids programming at the library,” Hoover de Galvez said. “And just carrying on so many of the wonderful things that Amy has done at the library.”
Hoover de Galvez heard the rumor that White would be retiring sometime soon from Greg Cotton at Cole Library in Mount Vernon, and made a trip to the building this past fall to check out the space. Immediate things she loved were that connection to SELCC and the library space.
Hoover de Galvez started at Des Moine Public Library four and a half years ago, and has been working at that location until February of this year.
“The original plan was for my whole family to relocate to Des Moines, and then COVID hit,” Hoover de Galvez said. “After the four months of staying at home, my husband found a job in Iowa City and that plan changed.”
She commuted every week to Des Moines, stayed with family, and then commuted back to spend time with her husband and son on the weekends.
Prior to her time at Des Moines Public Library, she worked at Coe College Library, a small hospital library in Cedar Rapids and at Kaplan University. She graduated from the University of Iowa’s library science program, but had originally completed a bachelor’s of science in a health-related field.
“I don’t know what made me pivot from my health field to library sciences originally,” Hoover de Galvez said. “I had a few different career aspirations over my life, but it was attending a library convention at age 19 that really sparked the interest for this.”
She said meeting so many Iowan authors, including the late Frank Conroy, really sparked a passion in the libraries.
“Everyone was so nice and helpful and welcoming,” Hoover de Galvez said.
That, and her mom listening to those aspirations and saying librarian seemed to cover so many of those aspects.
“She said you can focus on the writing, the health training you have as well as helping people,” Hoover de Galvez said.
Since her son is a freshman in high school, Hoover de Galvez said she plans to remain living in North Liberty, at least until he graduates.
“I already love that this library, though, is so close to my home and the operating hours give me time to pursue some of my other favorite activities, like hiking, kayaking, or even writing,” Hoover de Galvez said.
White said she recognized the job was such a great fit for Hoover de Galvez, with her many passions being something she could draw on in the community.
The other thing that White indicated Hoover de Galvez would be a good fit was her reaction to seeing Lisbon’s Heritage Hall, the second floor space of the library.
Hoover de Galvez said that White and the Lisbon community living the “If you build it, they will come” type of library in turn built the library position of her dreams.
“It is just the perfect place that I have been looking for,” Hoover de Galvez said. “This community has built a space so magical that I want to keep going.”
Reflections on 34 years as director
White said that she spent most of her career building the welcoming space she didn’t have growing up. She said there were no libraries near her growing up in rural Virginia, and it fascinated her when she moved to Iowa how integral and important library spaces were to each of the small communities in the state.
“Every little town has had a library, and it served as part of that town’s identity,” White said.
And she worked with members of the community – library board members, city council members and citizens – to start building the space that Lisbon Library is today.
One of those first community projects they all tackled was the Lisbon Heritage Hall renovation.
“I wanted there to be a space in our library where plays, music performances and community items could all shine,” White said. “A space that helped bring a little of the larger world to Lisbon.”
And that space has hosted many arts events over the years in Lisbon, including world renowned performers and concerts.
She again notes many of these changes were the work of the entire community, not just her as librarian. She just led the vision.
She said she learned things about what helped invite children to the library early on, like having cookies after school that morphed into partnerships with SELCC on after school snacks and programming in the community.
White said one of her biggest accomplishments may just be bringing the libraries of Mount Vernon and Lisbon together and start bringing these communities to be more mutual communities.
“I remember approaching Greg about ‘what do you mean Lisbon citizens can’t use the Cole Library and it’s resources?’” White said. “And he very early said why couldn’t we share? In a way, that has helped both libraries by making us work together. For Lisbon, it’s meant we don’t focus as intensely on our non-fiction section, because we’re not going to be able to compete with the college library on that. But we’re also a very family friendly and accessible library for citizens in the two towns as well, and will recommend resources that can be found at the other library.”
That partnership for both libraries has only been more beneficial in helping to build the bridges of sharing that have started between the two communities now who are sharing an ambulance and law enforcement services.
White said what she’s going to miss most at the library are the citizens and community members who make the library their third space.
“There are so many great people and conversations at the library every day,” White said.
That, and she joked, being able to easily renew her own library materials.
She has said she wants to make guest appearances for some story times and other programming on occasion.
But she’s also excited for the time to work on more of her writing in different ways, as well as spending more time with her family and friends. She and her husband are getting a puppy as well, which she knows will take up some more of her time.
“It’s more just having the time to tackle a number of different projects I want to do,” White said.
As a small-town library director, White said while she has enjoyed the job, trying to do what many larger libraries do with a much smaller staff has been difficult.
“Especially the administrative side of things, including job reports,” White said. “Meeting those deadlines was always tough, as was the statistics.”
White said she had other staff who excelled in some of those areas so she was able to pass the work on.
Part of this transition for Hoover de Galvez will be her being a full-time library director, which White and the library board knew was important for this position moving forward.
White said she always set a goal of retiring at roughly 66, and retiring at the end of February does that.
“I want to go out when I still love this job, and I’m excited about the things that Elizabeth has planned for the library moving forward,” White said. “I knew for our library board me leaving was going to be a huge task for them to fill, and gave them plenty of time to discuss this transition and search for the candidate, and they found the right one.”
White said she never tried to compare what the Lisbon Library does to other libraries in the state, because as Teddy Roosevelt said “comparison is the thief of joy.”
“My goal was always to do what I could with what I had available,” White said. “We aren’t going to be able to please everyone, but our goal is always to be warm and welcoming to all who come in our doors.”
Hoover de Glavez said the things she is looking to learn from White in the time they have together as part of this transition is to find some of the resources and shortcuts and connections in the community that White has made integral to the library’s success over the years.
But Hoover de Galvez is excited to be Lisbon’s new director.
A retirement celebration called “An Extra Day with Ms. Amy” is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 29. An open house will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Lisbon Public Library, with the program to follow in Lisbon’s Heritage Hall at 7:30 p.m. A reception will follow. Elizabeth Hoover de Galvez said they are looking at options to livestream a portion of the program at Heritage Hall for those unable to make it to the event.
“Like my husband said, it’s like the universe was opening and directing me to the job I’ve always wanted,” Hoover de Galvez said. “This is a job that perfectly matches my values and what I’ve wanted to build, and it’s like it’s built a perfect match for me.