Legacy gifts ensure bookmobile will keep reaching new generation of readers

As a child growing up near Salem, Donna McQuisten looked forward eagerly to the arrival of the library bookmobile.

Perusing the vehicle’s shelves supplemented the limited selection at St. Mary’s Elementary School and during the summer months gave her imagination access to the world of books.

For a girl who loved reading, the bookmobile’s arrival made a lifelong impact. Now, in his wife’s memory and following her wishes, Jim McQuisten will continue that impact for other readers for years to come.

This year and for each of the following nine years, McQuisten will donate $22,000 to Siouxland Libraries. It will be used for the current bookmobile and other outreach efforts. In addition, McQuisten’s will specifies that upon his death Siouxland Libraries will receive one-quarter of his estate.

“She grew up on a farm 2 miles west and 2 miles south of Salem, and after we got married, she talked about how the five kids in her family would all look forward to the bookmobile going by,” McQuisten said.

“We had no children, and our siblings don’t need any money, and our nieces and nephews don’t need money. So many years ago, we talked about what we want to do with our money. The bookmobile always had a soft spot in her heart. She enjoyed reading, and it was part of her life. That would be her legacy, so to speak, so other people could have something to read.”

The Siouxland Libraries’ board learned of the 10 years of gifts and future bequest at a meeting earlier this year. Libraries director Jodi Fick said the McQuistens’ gift, along with another donation from a longtime librarian, will have a huge impact on the bookmobile program.

Pauline Striemer, who worked at Siouxland Libraries for decades, left a bequest of $60,000 for the bookmobile program. Striemer died May 7, 2021. According to her obituary, she joined what was then the Sioux Falls library system in the 1950s and “drove the Sioux Falls Library Bookmobile for many, many years. She enjoyed sharing the love of books and reading with all the children she met.”

Smaller monetary gifts to the library, usually donated in someone’s memory, come in every week or so, Fick said. Larger gifts such as the bequests from the McQuistens and Striemer happen more rarely, usually once or twice a year.

All such donations are appreciated, Fick said.

“I’m honored if they think of the library, if they think about how they can impact the community through a gift to the library,” she said. “I think they really understand the effect of education, the effect of that freedom that you have in being able to expand your mind, learn about anything you want to learn about by using the library.”

Gifts to the library have wide-reaching effects, Fick said. At least 50 kids will read a child’s picture book during its lifetime, she said. Donations to the children’s play area give them a place to play with educational toys.

Larger gifts make an impact on Siouxland Libraries’ branch facilities and its bookmobile, Fick said.

That’s the case in the most recent donations to the bookmobile. Siouxland Libraries’ current bookmobile is only a little over 2 years old, but already plans are being made for its replacement in 2030. Bookmobiles generally have a life expectancy of 10 years, Fick said.

“Depending on how our system grows, if we decide there’s a need for a second truck or a smaller truck, that gives us some options without an impact on the overall city capital budget,” Fick said. “It’s similar to the replacement of a snowplow. These are the things we need to be able to provide services for our community. It’s a significant investment, and these gifts reassures us we will have funds available.”

The bookmobile system in the Sioux Falls library started in the 1950s. Striemer, a native of Fairmont, Minnesota, worked for the Martin County Library there for a short time before she came to Sioux Falls to start the bookmobile program.

Striemer expanded the program from one truck to a few bookmobiles serving every elementary school in Sioux Falls, Fick said. During the 1960s and ’70s, the library operated three full-size bookmobiles and a smaller one that served facilities for senior citizens.

The Minnehaha County rural public library system started in the early 1960s. It began with a used bookmobile from the state library that visited schools throughout the county.

During the 1980s and ’90s, the emphasis changed to opening branch libraries in Sioux Falls and surrounding communities. Caille Library, the first branch in Sioux Falls, opened in 1986. Bookmobiles have the advantage of bringing books to where people are gathered, Fick said. The disadvantage is the bookmobile can be there only for an hour every week or two.

There’s still a role for bookmobiles, however.

“Bookmobiles today are expanding across the nation because they are such an effective tool to use in outreach and getting library services into neighborhoods and into the hands of folks who maybe don’t have transportation to get to a branch,” Fick said. “There’s a lot of nostalgia for bookmobiles, particularly in the Sioux Falls area because of how strong the program was. Just about every child who attended a school here used that bookmobile.”

McQuisten knows that his late wife, Donna, felt a sense of awe when she climbed the steps that led into the bookmobile. She was able to select the books that appealed to her, taking them home and curling up to read when time permitted.

McQuisten spent many hours sitting companionably with his wife, whom he calls “the love of his life,” while she was engrossed in a book. The couple met at a downtown Sioux Falls restaurant known as the French Quarter on July 21, 1970, when she came in with a friend after visiting a nearby nightclub. He proposed Dec. 21, 1970, and they were married  Aug. 21, 1971. Donna died May 21, 2021, at the age of 70.

As her nieces and nephews grew up, she stressed the importance of having adults read to them and making sure they had access to books, McQuisten said.

“She and her brother were both reading before they got to school,” he said. “To me, that’s an awesome thing — a parent who’s patient enough to help a child read. They learn ‘boy’ and ‘cat’ and ‘mouse,’ and all the adjectives and adverbs will come later.”

A kind person, Donna McQuisten wasn’t necessarily a leader, her husband said. Instead, she just “went and did stuff.” That’s why, when she made up her mind that she wanted to help others enjoy the same access to library books that she did, she made sure it got done, McQuisten said.

“She thought long and hard what she wanted to do with her legacy. She just wanted it to go to a good place,” he said. “She enjoyed reading so much, and she enjoyed kids.”

He decided on the annual donations on the day of his wife’s death.

“If I live another 10 years, why should this money be sitting in the bank?” McQuisten said. “This way it will go out into the economy. That’s my gift back to her.”

Giving the money over 10 years may not be as dramatic as giving one large check, McQuisten acknowledged. But, as he wife always did, it will take care of people for a long time.

Demand for Siouxland Libraries’ lone bookmobile has increased in recent years, Fick said. The most recent bookmobile is larger than its predecessor so it can hold materials for all ages. The earlier bookmobile focused on items for children.

Like the stationary libraries, bookmobiles offer more than books, Fick said. That includes audio books, movies and specialty collections such as board games and discovery kits that include items such as microscopes.

Siouxland Libraries’ will use half of the McQuistens’ annual gift this first year to purchase books that will be on the bookmobile only. The remainder will be placed in a fund for the replacement truck.

To see the bookmobile’s schedule, visit the Siouxland Libraries’ website.