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Luise House named state's top librarian
Mountain Home Library Director Luise House has been named the 2006 Librarian of the Year for the state of Idaho.
She was presented with the prestigious award during the annual convention of the Idaho Library Association in Moscow, Friday.
House received a standing ovation from the audience "which I didn't deserve," she contended.
"To stand up in front of those folks and realize they work just as hard as you do, it was amazing," House said. "It was really humbling."
She told the assembled crowd of librarians, trustees and library professionals that, "I know, without a doubt, what makes libraries grow, and become rich in their communities, isn't about the kind of building which surrounds the collection, or what one person does. Instead, it is about all of them (the librarians and trustees) and what they do day in and day out to keep libraries alive and well in the state of Idaho."
She made all the librarians and trustees in the room stand.
"Because of all of them in some way or another, I was able to accept that kind of award," she said.
She went on to thank the current and past members of the Mountain Home Library Board of Trustees for their support, and the Idaho Commission for Libraries and Idaho Library Association for the work they do in promoting and helping libraries in Idaho.
House is a second-generation librarian, having succeeded her mother 22 years ago as an assistant librarian at the Mountain Home Public Libary. She rapidly was promoted to become library director, "a post in which she has served our community with exceptional skill and dedication for 20 years," said Cheryl McMurtrey, a member of the Mountain Home Public Library Board of Trustees who provided the introductory speech for House at the convention.
House was nominated by members of the library board for the prestigious honor in part due to her efforts that led to the construction of the new library.
"But this award is not just because of her efforts to get the new building," McMurtrey said. "In our opinion it honors her for a body of work over her lifetime as a dedicated professional.
"I can tell you, as a member of the library board, how grateful I am to have a librarian of Luise's skill, determination, energy and good sense running our library. This is a great little library, and it's all through Luise's efforts."
In the spring of 2004 House brought a proposal before the board for a major expansion of the Mountain Home Public Library. The plan envisioned a project that would more than double the square footage of the library -- to 18,000 square feet. The original 1907 Carnegie Library in Mountain Home had been replaced in 1976, but over the last 30 years, as Mountain Home has grown, and the library with it, the building had become crowded. The shelves were full, and library staff had to go outside the library to run some of the many outreach programs they had.
"The library expansion project and bond was her brainchild," McMurtrey noted. "After we received city council permission to take it to the voters she worked her tail off giving scores of presentations to local groups, ranging from major community organizations to neighborhood coffee klatches.
"The joke was that if Luise saw three drunks leaning up against a lamp post at 2 a.m. she'd stop and give a presentation."
In August of 2004 the $1.5 million bond election was held and the expansion project received a 75 percent approval from the voters. It was the first bond to pass in the city since 1996.
"But our success wasn't just from the presentations and the good plan, or even Luise's organization of the bond effort," McMurtrey said.
"The real reason we believe the bond passed so overwhelmingly was the many years of outstanding work she and her staff have done providing programs and outreach services at the library. They never stand still. There's always something going on and the public knows it. They'd built up a lot of 'warm fuzzies' over the years with the public that went a long way to winning the bond."
McMurtrey also praised House for her efforts to monitor the construction project, which was done by Cristobal Construction of Mountain Home. The project had no serious glitches and came in on time and under budget.
During construction, in which the facility was entirely rebuilt except for one wall, staff had to move out of the building and find temporary quarters in the Western Elmore County Recreation District office.
"Luise managed to keep the library up and running and most of our regular programs, especially the ones for the kids, still alive. The temporary facility was extremely crowded and what little office space there was she turned over to the staff," McMurtrey said.
"She became our resident 'bag lady, without an office of her own, and wound up eventually sharing space with another city official (Stan Franks) on the other side of town. It wasn't easy, but she pulled it off, with only a small interruption of service to our patrons.
"In April of this year we moved into and began operations in the new library, to the praise of our patrons. The first week alone we issued 600 new library cards."
Noting the expanded programs and projects House and the library staff are planning on developing over the next 18 months, McMurtrey pointed out that "the expanded building was simply the infrastructure around which our patron programs are themselves being expanded. It's been the means, not the end, of our work."