Library recognizes former board member’s 20 years of service

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Strathmore Municipal Library recognized Gary Jensen for his 20 years of service to the library while a part of its board of directors.

A small event to celebrate his tenure and his contributions to the library was hosted at the facility, Feb. 8, with several family, friends, members of the community, town councilors, and members of the library in attendance.

“Gary has been a board member for 20-plus years and we have some new board members in, so Gary has been asked to step down,” said Ann Horn, chair of the Strathmore Library Board. “As the board, we are all volunteers and quite a few of the staff who work at the library are volunteers as well, so we think it is really important to make sure that people are recognized for what they do.”

Horn explained terms on the library’s board typically last a duration of three years. At the conclusion of a term, it will be decided by the board whether it is desired for a member to remain on. 

Jensen was asked to step away from the board out of concerns regarding his time and health. Going forward, should he choose, he remains welcome to attend board meetings as a member of the general public.

“Gary is just a familiar face around here. He is in the library all the time, he always has that background that as a new member of the board, I do not have,” said Horn. “He can step up and say, ‘this is what we have done in the past,’ and ‘this is what has worked, this is what has not,’ and that is invaluable to have that history.”

Going forward, the library is aiming to establish a “Friends of the Strathmore Library” association and would like Jensen to be involved with that once it is set up. The purpose of such an organization would be to host fundraisers and other such events that the library itself may not be able to.

“He has helped out with anything that he possibly could, even though physically he was not able to do a lot of the manual type things,” said Ruth McCluskey, a member of the library’s Board of Directors. “He backs every project that we have taken on – we did a cookbook a couple of years ago, and he was a great help when we did that. Anybody that would give recipes or anything, he would get them for us.”

A plaque recognizing Jensen for his years of service now hangs in the library to acknowledge his contributions to the facility.