Library welcomes new manager

There is a new face at the Moorcroft Branch Library. Branch manager Serena Buckner joins librarians Shannon Reynolds and Lacey Rasco with ideas and a goal to make Moorcroft Branch Library a popular destination for all ages.

Buckner spent many of her formative years in Moorcroft, "We moved here when I was in third grade so from third grade all the way through high school, I lived here." Since then, she, her husband and their family have lived around the state with their last home in Thermopolis.

When the family chose to return to this area, they chose Moorcroft instead of Gillette.

"[My husband] was raised in Thermopolis, I was raised here and I wanted to raise my kids in a small town," she says.

Buckner has four children and appreciates a smaller community with people who are more inclined to watch out for the children, saying, "That's what we wanted."

Working as an agent for the Department of Family Services (DFS) for four years and a couple of years as a substitute teacher, Buckner and friend Rasco discussed her applying for the branch manager position when former manager Pam Jespersen retired, "But it just didn't feel like the right time yet."

This time, with Heather Reynolds' resignation, Buckner decided the time was right and applied, "My youngest is now two and a half years old and it's a little easier to manage teenagers and a toddler than teenagers and a newborn."

Buckner and her family live literally just across the alley.

"Probably the shortest commute I'm ever going to have in my life," she grins.

Though the new administrator has only been on the job since mid March, she is determined to find better ways to enhance the library's presence within the community.

She and her associates have already been brainstorming possible ways to accomplish this goal and one option that Buckner would have appreciated In years gone by is the library being open at least a couple hours on one Saturday a month.

"I know, when I worked in Gillette, I never made it to the library. My son wanted a library card for years, but I literally could not get here when the library was open because I was never in town," she says.

Buckner also advocates their participating in more community activities such as Jubilee's Family Night, the Safety and Business Expo and other events.

"I feel sometimes that people forget we're here... We don't want to do anything too complicated, we want to keep it simple and keep people involved. Reminding them we're here and what services we offer," she says.

She spoke to the long lasting success of the Wednesday After School Program that has been hosted by Rasco for several years: "Our after school program averages around 30 kids and last week there were 35 so we are drawing kids into that one."

One event Buckner has already set into motion is a presentation by author Eugene Gagliano.

"He wrote C is for Cowboy and Little Wyoming, a couple children's books and he's actually written some adult books. He was featured in Wren Magazine and we didn't realize he's actually the Wyoming Poet Laureate [as well]," she says.

After reading the article in Wren, the director emailed Gagliano and requested a visit, an offer he readily accepted, not only to the Moorcroft branch, but Hulett and Sundance, too.

"He'll be here May 9 and 10," Buckner smilingly reports.

She went on to explain how the library plans to involve current and future patrons in this endeavor, "We're going to order a couple more of his books directly and do a give-away, you can get entries by coming in and checking out some of his books as well as coming to the presentation."

Buckner is actively seeking input from area residents on what they would like to see. She and her staff are considering creating a poll asking for ideas for future presentations that can be accessed via FaceBook, standard mail and in person at the library, but as the crew has been focused primarily on cleaning and reorganizing since Buckner started a little more than two weeks ago, they haven't quite gotten that far yet.

Buckner has truly hit the ground running and, with her crew helping, is on her way to accomplishing her goal of making the Moorcroft Branch Library an active part of the Moorcroft area community.