The Three Rivers City Commission appointed Bobbi Schoon as the city’s new finance director/treasurer in a unanimous vote Tuesday evening. Currently serving as the Three Rivers Public Library (TRPL) Director, Schoon must now acquire additional municipal accounting skills for her new position, and has already met the prerequisites to be accepted into those training programs. 

Three Rivers Public Library Director Bobbi Schoon returns to Keep Your Voice Down to discuss the library’s involvement with the Smithsonian’s Spark! Places of Innovation program. Spark! explores the unique combination of places, people, and circumstances that sparks innovation and invention in rural communities. The Three Rivers Library will be hosting its very own exhibit alongside a traveling Smithsonian exhibit that will make its way to the library this summer.

Alek, Doug, and Bobbi also discuss Women’s History Month, National Reading Month, and the myriad of ways citizens of Three Rivers can engage with the library.

Doug and Alek are joined by Three Rivers Library Director Bobbi Schoon to discuss the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of a two-time interim library director with five degrees (Spoiler: It’s Bobbi, the Thanos of library directors), who has ascended to the full-time position after years of hard work and dedicated service to the Three Rivers community. The trio talk about the importance of local libraries, the variety of activities folks can participate in at the library without ever picking up a book (they’re getting robots, guys), Bobbi’s bout with COVID-19, and the library’s upcoming Community Conversations series.

The Three Rivers Library Board discussed the prospect of renting a room to the Three Rivers Women’s Club (TRWC) for the purpose of archival storage during its meeting on Tuesday, November 24. The board didn’t make a formal decision Tuesday, opting instead to weigh the particulars of a rental agreement and any liability the library might incur if it grants the club keyed access to a room in its basement.

At an annual organizational meeting Monday evening, members of the Three Rivers City Commission heard about a year’s worth of work and progress from the city’s various department heads, ranging from the fire and police chiefs to the mapmaker and the grant writer. Commissioners also passed a series of measures to set various procedures for the coming year. City Manager Joe Bippus said the city has gotten “a lot of things accomplished” in the past year, and has been “very resourceful,” delivering “quality services” to the public through diligent frugality and with “very little waste” of money or other resources.

In a light regular meeting of the Three Rivers Public Library (TRPL) board Tuesday, Board Chair Julie Keefer and Acting Director Bobbi Schoon said public response to the former bank building at Main and Moore Streets has been good so far. TRPL staff moved into the new building in August as contractors were finishing up renovations on the building, which the board acquired in 2017. Curbside lending service resumed in September, and the building opened to limited visitation earlier in October. Board members also approved a snow removal contract, authorized Schoon to negotiate with Park Township over an ongoing issue, and discussed a possible archival tenant in the basement.

The Three Rivers Public Library (TRPL) opened its new facility at the corner of North Main and Moore Streets to a limited number of inside customers Monday. Although it has been providing curbside service since September 21, the interior of the library has been closed to the public. TRPL Acting Director Bobbi Schoon said she was excited for Monday’s opening. “We finally get to share it with everybody,” she said.