Nineteen years is a long time, yet it can seem to go by in the blink of an eye.

Dec. 31, Cyrene Bastien retired from her 19-year librarian position at the Clearwater Library. Last Thursday community members came out to offer their congratulations and wish her well in her new ventures during an open house held at the library.

Bastien was the first librarian hired when the Clearwater Library was opened in 2001. She’s been the community’s librarian ever since, and she’s going to be missed.

“I’m going to miss her welcoming presence,” said Kris Peterson. “She made you feel like you’re the one person she was waiting for to come through the door.”

“Cyrene cares so much,” said Alice Patton. “About the people, the employees, the community and the library.”

Bastien started her library career as an assistant at a small library in Circle Pines that was part of the Anoka Co. Library system. From there she moved to the Fridley Library and eventually to system headquarters in Blaine, where she was the circulation supervisor.

In 1995 she was hired by Great River Regional Library (GRRL) and substituted for numerous branches in their system before she was chosen as librarian for the newly-opened Clearwater branch.

“It was exactly where I wanted to be, working in a small library again,” said Bastien. “Kind of like the circle of life, I began my career in a small library and am ending my career in a small library.”  

Even though she loved it, like any job there were occasional challenges.

“Trying to squeeze a fulltime job into half the hours can be difficult,” she said, chuckling. “When I first started, we were flooded with people because of the excitement of having a new library in town.”

Thankfully, that’s where volunteers stepped in.

“I want to thank all the volunteers the library has had throughout the years,” she said. “Bernice Hoffman was the first one, and since then there’s been numerous others who have helped us immensely. Without them we wouldn’t be able to offer all the programs and the library itself wouldn’t look so amazing.”

Bastien also extended thanks to the invested members of the Clearwater Area Friends of the Library group that have played a vital role in helping support and promote the library.

“Most of all, thank you to the patrons who read more than I do and share their stories,” she said. “It’s been a pleasure to share the love of books with them.”

Bastien has seen a number of changes during her tenure, including moving the library into a new, larger space in 2012.

“Cyrene has done a fantastic job,” said Mary Torgersen. “Look at this place, it’s organized and tidy. She’s so friendly, people love her.”

“Her dedication and people skills are outstanding,” said Kathy Gerdts-Senger.

The consistent sentiment from community members who came to wish her well during the open house was that Bastien is the biggest reason the Clearwater Library has been so successful.

“Cyrene has the ability to make connections,” said Sue Haller. “Not just people, but places and interests.”

“What kept me excited to come to work every day were the patrons who came through the door and shared their love of reading,” said Bastien.

 Clearwater hasn’t seen the last of Bastien, she’ll continue to patronize the library. She also plans to continue her genealogy research and travel to Nebraska to see the sand hill cranes. As an admitted ‘rock hound,’ one of her goals is to “continue my quest to find the monster Fairburn agate,” so travel to South Dakota, where they’re found, is also on her list.

“I’m going to desperately miss my library patrons,” said Bastien. “There’s connections in our lives, and that’s the beauty of the library. People make connections here, it’s our own little community center.”