Livingston County Library Charitable Trust


Newspaper October 31, 2013 | Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, MO) Section: News

Library charitable trust established – Lead donation comes from trust of former director The Board of Directors of the Livingston County Library has voted to create a charitable trust that will support library services and programs beyond the capacities of county funding. The Livingston County Library Charitable Trust Board is a volunteer board comprised of Livingston County Library Board Directors and additional appointed members.

The initial funding for the Trust was provided by a generous lead donation from the Lillian DesMarias Trust. Ms. DesMarias was Livingston County Library Director from 1970 to 1980. She was instrumental in getting the original elevator installed in the library in 1976 and in establishing a separate Children’s Library. Ms. Des Marias died on Nov. 24, 2012 at the age of 99, in Grundy Center, Iowa. She had a master of arts degree in library science from the University of Denver and worked in several libraries throughout her career.

“Ms. DesMarias was very progressive during her time as library director. She believed that a library played an important role in an educated, successful community.

She felt very fondly about her time at the Livingston County Library and had a great impact on the mission and goals of the Library then and today,” current Library Director Robin Westphal said.

The Livingston County Library Trust was established to accept donations and allocate funds to the library for additional programs, materials, services and future capital projects. The DesMarias donation, and any others to follow, will be used exclusively for library endeavors.

“The Livingston County Library Board of Directors gratefully accepts the generous and selfless gift to our community,” said Library Board President Marion Harter. “Ms. DesMarias lived a life devoted to learning through her personal interests and dedication to her profession. It will be an honor for the Livingston County Library Trust Officers to carry on the lifework of Ms. DesMarias and those who follow through their gifts.” “This Trust provides a mechanism for which people will be able to leave funds to the Library after they’ve passed away. For me, and for many in our community, the Library has been an important component to an enjoyable, rich life,” Harter continued.

Westphal explained that the role of libraries is evolving and that technological advances are changing the way service is delivered.

“While we will always be the place to check out your favorite book or get information, the way in which we will do that is changing,” she said. “The funds provided by the Trust will ensure the viability of the Library for future generations. We are so grateful to Ms. DesMarias for her foresight and commitment to the public library system.” Copyright 2013 Constitution-Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
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Design plans for new children’s library revealed to community Newspaper April 29, 2019 | Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, MO) Section: News
Design plans for new children’s library revealed to community On Wednesday night, community members got to see the new design plan for the Livingston County Library’s new children’s library.

The event allowed interested area residents the chance to review bcDESIGNGROUP’s proposed design for the old Walgreens building, which the library purchased in 2018 with funds from the Livingston County Library Charitable Trust, which was started after Lillian DesMarias, a former library director left the library more than $8 million in 2013.

Area residents visited with board members and Library Director Candy Warren while viewing the artist renderings of the new design for the building, which will house the children’s and teen collections and serve as a home for programming and expanded services for those age groups.

The building will be separated into sections, one for children, another for teens and a lounge area for middle readers.

“As far as space goes we are so excited with what bcDESIGNGROUP has come up with for us . They have proposed a large programming area for children and teens along with a room dedicated specifically to story time, ” Warren said.

There will also be a sensory room for kids featuring sand tables and play house. “There will even be an area for our youngest readers for babies, she added. “We are really excited about that and are also hoping to incorporate a nursing room.”

Currently, the children’s and teen’s area are in one room at the library leaving cramped conditions and no room for expansion, Warren said.

In the new building, the areas will be separated. The teen area will include a teen-only computer area, lounge, group study room and individual study place and a place to hang out.

There will also be a new lounge area for middle readers, Warren said.

“Middle readers are growing in confidence but many times parents still want to help have a role in the topics their children choose to read about, that are age and topic appropriate,” she said. “Currently, we have about two shelves with a middle reader collection, at the new facility they will have an expanded collection and an area of their own.”

As part of the gift DesMarias left the library, she noted the donation should be spent on the collection, programing and then capital improvements.

“This addresses all of those areas,” Warren said. “We can expand programming for all age groups and the collection and are expanding and improving the library as a whole.”

The library is out of space for expansion, storage and employees must share areas. The addition of the children’s library will open up space to allow more creative programming and other behind-the-scenes work to be done more easily.

There will not be an addition of children and teens library staff at this time, Warren said. Hours of the children’s library will be adjusted ensuring it is open when it is most needed and will allow the five dedicated employees to flex their schedules in order to meet those needs.

The library board and employees are still working hard to come up with a name for the new children’s library, and Warren said they welcome suggestions.

“We want to come up with something that is easy to say and catchy,” Warren said. “But we also want to incorporate Lillian’s name in some way.”

Warren said it is her and the board’s hopes begin the process of seeking construction bids in the next few weeks and to ultimately move into the new children’s library by the end of the year. Copyright 2019 Constitution-Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
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Library’s children and teen areas close Aug 3 Newspaper July 29, 2020 | Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, MO) Section: News
Library’s children and teen areas close Aug 3 The Livingston County Library (LCL) Children’s Department and Teen Department is scheduled to be closed starting Monday, Aug. 3 in preparation for the upcoming move to the new LCL Lillian DesMarias Youth Branch.

In a press release from Candice Warren, library director, she said staff is asking

patrons to please come in ahead of Monday to stock up on items they may want from the children’s or teen department. The Ellison Cutters will not be available during this time so plans to cut back-to-school items early should be made at this time, as well.

During this time of transition, patrons are asked to call the Library’s main number at

660-646-0547 to reach children’s services, as that number is not currently available. Once the transition has been made, the usual number, 660-646-0563 will be available again.

The move is anticipated to happen Aug, 10 with an opening date to be announced,” Warren said.

The Lillian DesMarias Youth Branch will serve children ages birth through 18. Some highlights of the new building are study rooms, programming rooms, a dedicated storytime room, and nursing room. The initial funding for the Trust that led to the creation of the youth branch was provided by a generous lead donation from the Lillian DesMarias Trust. DesMarias was Livingston County Library Director from 1970 to 1980. She was instrumental in getting the original elevator and establishing a separate Children’s Library in the basement of the current library. DesMarias died in 2012 at the age of 99. She had a Master of Arts Degree in Library Science and worked in several libraries throughout her career, Warren said. Copyright 2020 Constitution-Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
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LCL Lillian DesMarias Youth Library open house held this Friday Newspaper July 19, 2021 | Constitution-Tribune (Chillicothe, MO) Author: For the Constitution-Tribune Section: News

LCL Lillian DesMarias Youth Library open house held this Friday The open house and ribbon cutting of the Lillian DesMarias Youth Library will begin at 5:30 p.m., July 23 with a ribbon-cutting. The open house will run until 7 p.m. The event will kick off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony followed by guided tours, food, games, and prizes. Weather permitting, the ceremony and events will be held outside.

In addition to library staff, the event will be attended by library board members, members of the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary members, and current Missouri State Librarian, Robin Westphal. A community youth will be selected to do the ribbon-cutting honors from a drawing held at the library previously in the week. Participants can enter to be the ribbon cutter by checking a book out at the Lillian DesMarias Youth Library until Thursday, July 22 at 3 p.m. At that point, a random ticket will be selected and the child notified. Copyright 2021 Constitution-Tribune. All Rights Reserved.