Beloved library puppeteer, storyteller remembered in new memorial

Even though the meeting room door was shut, a booming male voice, adapted to mimic a barnyard animal, escaped to fill the remainder of the library.

It immediately was followed by peals of laughter from the audience of children.

That’s how Amy Larsen, then supervising librarian at the Siouxland Libraries’ Oak View Branch, would know that library associate Brian Borden was conducting one of his popular puppet shows.

Borden, who died unexpectedly Nov. 27, 2024, was famed among co-workers and his enthusiastic audiences of youngsters for the puppet shows and story times he conducted for more than a decade.

“It’s hard not to immediately think of the impact he had on the kids,” said Emilyn Frisch, who started at Oak View as a library associate in 2023 and worked with Borden for about a year. “He was very imaginative. Everybody really loved him.”

To honor Borden, who was 44 when he died, a terrarium that will have revolving themes is now on display at Oak View, 3700 E. Third St. Its first theme honors one of Borden’s passions: superheroes. Library staff hid tiny superhero characters among the greenery, and library visitors are invited to search for their hiding places.

One character is not hidden at all. That’s Superman, who stands arms akimbo on a tiny bridge. Borden was known for his love of and knowledge about superheroes, and it was an easy theme to choose for the terrarium’s debut.

“We were doing a team-building activity, and Brian said Superman was the best superhero because he is promoting positivity and good and just making the world a better place, which was kind of Brian’s outlook,” said Larsen, now a senior librarian at Siouxland Libraries’ downtown branch.

“It’s who Brian really was,” Frisch agreed. “It was just kind of a tribute to him in a little way. A lot of guests recognized that— ‘Oh, I remember Brian loved superheroes.’”

Oak View Branch recently reopened after undergoing a renovation, and that provided the perfect opportunity to come up with a memorial for Borden, Larsen said. Contributions from his family and friends helped fund part of the search-and-find terrarium. They knew how important Borden’s work was to him and supported the idea of a memorial.

An Oak View staff member had seen a terrarium when she visited the “Dollhouse I Spy” exhibit at the Scottsdale Public Library in Scottsdale, Arizona. Claire Jeanson suggested doing something similar, and it became a collaborative effort, Frisch said.

“We have such a close team that everybody kind of pitched in and had ideas and wanted to be part of it,” she said.

The terrarium was part of a Jan. 7 open house that Oak View had to celebrate its reopening. Children were given a sheet of paper to use in checking off the superheroes as they found them.

“It’s been a big hit with the kids already,” Larsen said. “That was one of the most popular activities we had. … We think if we change it out quarterly we can keep that excitement going.”

Children who visit the library when staff members are tending to the terrarium also are invited to help by spritzing the plants with water.

Having a living memorial makes it special, Frisch said.

“A lot of memorials, you see plaques and signs and beautiful ways to remember someone by, and this is really special because it’s engaging,” she said. “You have to go over there and take care of it and look for those things, and every time you’re physically remembering Brian.”

Library visitors who read the plaque also have asked Oak View staff about Borden. Sometimes they learn about the impact the 11-year employee had beyond his work with children. In addition to training as a children’s programmer, Borden was the DVD selector for the entire library system.

“He was known throughout the entire library system as the ultimate expert on DVDs, movies and TV shows,” Larsen said. “Everybody came to him for advice and recommendations, both staff and our library guests. Folks came into Oak View specifically to get DVD suggestions from Brian.”

Every week, Frisch would ask Borden what movies he had watched recently.

“He always had answers in his back pocket,” she said. “No matter what genre it was, he loved film, and he was just passionate about that.”

Enough time has passed since Borden’s death that Frisch no longer expects to round the corner of a stack of bookshelves and see him standing there, but his memory has not faded.

“After Brian passed, the comments we heard from many, many library guests were that Brian was so welcoming. ‘Brian always made us feel so welcome,’ and he always had a smile on his face,” Larsen said.