Ribbon-cutting for 1-of-a-kind new circulation desk at Gambier Community Library

GAMBIER – The Gambier Community Library has been undergoing a significant upgrade in facilities under the leadership of recently appointed Branch Manager Cindy Dean. 

With support from Gambier Village Council and her husband, Doc, Dean has painted, replaced ceiling tiles and redecorated the children's section of the library. The coup de gras in Dean’s plan for Gambier is her vision for a new circulation desk. 

Jeffrey Scott, executive director of Knox County Foundation, said, "The new circulation desk at the Gambier Community Library is a beautiful and creative addition to an important and vibrant part of the village community, and Knox County Foundation is pleased to have been able to support the project." 

Gambier Village Councilmember Liz Forman said, “The Gambier Library is so important to our community, and it’s so beloved. Council is delighted to support such an important and necessary renovation.” 

This project brought together a coalition of community members to design a one-of-a-kind welcome for library patrons. With funding from the Knox County Foundation and Gambier Village Council, Dean collaborated with local philanthropists Will and Donna Scott and Options Plus Furniture to use wood salvaged from the Scotts’ collection of locally harvested hardwoods to create recessed shelves that ring the circulation desk’s perimeter. Every library is flush with shelves, but these shelves are engraved with the donor tree’s common name, Latin genus and species, a tracing of the tree’s leaves and fruit nuts rendered by library MakerSpace artist Morgan Durfeee. 

Dean provided cupcakes to over 20 attendees at the April 27 ribbon-cutting : Jeffrey Scott and Lisa Lloyd from Knox County Foundation; Forman, Village Administrator R.C. Wise and Mayor Leeman Kessler; Library Director John K. Chidester; Clerk-Treasurer Dee Durfee; and Assistant Library Director Cassandra Peterson joined numerous library staff and community members in celebrating the library’s new look. 

For more information and for Gambier Community Library hours, visit www.knox.net, email cdean@knox.net or call 740-427-2665.