New director for county library system

By Christy Porter, Managing Editor

Louise Beasley assumed her new position as Texas County Library Director on March 28. Her responsibilities will be mainly behind the scenes, overseeing Licking, Houston, Cabool and Summersville facilities and ensuring that they are functioning properly, managing staff, and fulfilling daily and administrative duties.

“I was honored to get the position,” said Beasley. “The librarians and the library board all work together so well.”

Beasley, who likes to read, comes from a family of readers and wishes that there were more young people who were avid readers.

Why? “Because reading can increase one’s knowledge, and improve language, punctuation, writing, grammar and sentence structure skills. It can open up new worlds, alternate views and different perspectives. It also invites people to use their imagination. Reading different authors can widen those parameters,” shares Beasley.

“Some children do love to read and definitely have their favorite authors,” said Beasley. She worked with the young children while a library assistant at the Licking Elementary Library and as a substitute teacher for Licking, Raymondville and Houston schools.

Beasley holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. She is a native of Dallas, Texas, and went on to pursue a career in public television and PBS Kids in Dallas. Upon moving to Columbia, Mo., in 2006, with her husband, Roger, who is a Texas County native and a 1984 alumnus from Licking High School, she worked remotely for a Warrensburg PBS station.

“I loved working in public television,” said Beasley.

She then worked in banking and transferred in that field when she and Roger relocated to Raymondville in 2018, taking over the family farm.

Leaving the banking industry, Beasley then found teaching a perfect fit in this area.

The couple is enjoying reconnecting with friends and family as they acclimate to rural living.

She hopes to support, help and enhance the many programs the Texas County Library system now embraces, as well as being a part of the team that has made the libraries successful.

“I and my staff will be working to promote, enhance and grow the branches in all the library’s communities. And I will not ask any team member to do something that I wouldn’t do myself,” she emphasized.

She hopes to see library program promotions continue on a regular basis; they currently include the individual “Bookends” columns written by each branch’s librarians, “Story Time,” and the Summer Reading program, which begins in June and runs for eight weeks through the summer months. She is appreciative of the support given to the program by community businesses that donate supplies and appropriate awards and prizes used in the program. The programs also utilize grant funding for support.

This year’s summer program is “Oceans of Possibilities,” and each branch will offer activities with the reading program.

Library summer hours for all four branches will remain 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday; and there will be extended hours on Tuesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Beasley will be working from the Houston Main Branch facility from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, as it is currently a part-time position, although she can be reached by branch librarians at all times. She plans on making periodical visits to the Licking, Cabool and Summersville branches.

To contact her, call 417-967-2258 or email her at lbeasleyTxCoLibrary@gmail.com.