Hickman Crossroads: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Christi Iffergan, manager of the Hickman Crossroads branch of Brunswick County N.C., has turned what was once an old perfume factory on Calabash Road into a true community hub.

Indeed, Hickman Crossroads Library is a place where everyone, Iffergan and her staff of three — Kim Wilson, Aimee Duncan, and Marilyn Perry — know more than just your name. A walk into the library brings greetings from those at the desk and the volunteers. In fact, if you have visited more than once, these folks also likely know, the type of books you read, movies you like, your hobbies, and more. At the checkout, while helping you find something, in one of the many activities the library offers, Iffergan and her staff chat with you, genuinely wanting to know you, not just your name.

The Hickman Crossroads branch opened in 2004 thanks to a grant that enabled the county to turn an old perfume factory (the source of the wonderful murals) into a branch library to serve the residents in the southwestern corner of Brunswick County, N.C., almost on the border with South Carolina. On your way to the book sale, you will see the table of activities (flyers for the movie series, the various classes, and performances that come to the library.) All who know Iffergan attribute the increase to her hard work. At this library, people take out movies, books, watch movies, work on computers, play chess, put together jigsaw puzzles, and find the answers to gardening and tax questions from community volunteers and much much more.

Reecie Tate, director of Brunswick County Libraries, said, “Christi was our first choice for this job. She’d had years of successful experience managing branches in a larger North Carolina public library system. She was very knowledgeable about books and authors and information resources. She is successful because she knows her community and puts the customers first. She orders the books and materials they enjoy. She plans programs to meet their interests. She’s brave enough to try new ideas. She’s unfailingly polite, patient, and cheerful. And she reads and reads.”

Iffergan credits her love of reading as the start of her library career. She says,” My grandmother, Nellie Ruth Gills, was the person who encouraged me to read. She was a retired elementary school teacher who always gave me books as presents. I got them(books) on each birthday and Christmas and still have the books to this day. She instilled in me a love of reading and for books and I give her credit for what I am doing today.”

The path to becoming a librarian was not a straight line from that book-loving start. Iffergan graduated from college a math major. She was offered a job driving the Bluefield , W. Va., bookmobile the summer after she graduated. “I fell in love with library work then,” she says.

Life, she says, took her to Charlotte N.C., where she worked for Scholastic Book Fairs and then the Gaston County, N.C., public library system. There she progressed from the circulation desk to reference to Branch Manager. A little over five years ago, she was offered the opportunity to work in Brunswick County, near the beach, and took it. “I love it here,” notes Iffergan, who lives in Little River. Since Iffergan became the manager, the circulation of this branch has more than doubled.

When asked to share the formula for her success, she immediately gives credit to the good customer service her staff gives patrons. Their commitment to good customer service mirrors Iffergan’s own. From the time you enter the library and then through the check out, these women are happy to serve and genuinely happy you, as an individual, are there to be served.

The specific steps she took to bring this library to its status as community hub started with the Friends of the Library and building up the collection. Iffergan credits the Friends group (Friends of the Library Organization founded by Marylin Searby and now under the direction of Walter Owen) with making many of the library programs possible through monetary donations via its book sale and other fundraisers and the countless hours of volunteer work performed by the Friends members on a daily basis.

At the very beginning of her tenure as Branch Manager, Iffergan took a survey of library patrons asking what they wanted to see at the library in terms of books and movies and what activities they thought should be held at the library. She also put up a suggestion box, which remains to this day, keeping her abreast of potential new ways patrons would like to be served. Along with all of that, she reached out to strengthen ties between the branch and community groups. (Iffergan still goes out and gives talks to Rotary, NARFE, VFW, Lions, and more.) Her outreach has been reward by these groups making Hickman’s Crossroads Branch Library a recipient of their investment in the community.

Citing as examples of the generosity of these groups, Iffergan says, “Calabash Lions obtained an ATMC grant and gave us funds so we could purchase more print and audio materials for the blind and low vision patrons. Shallotte Rotary gave us a donation to expand our large print book collection and the South Brunswick International Rotary purchased a children’s computer for us, a specialized piece of equipment we would not have had the funds to get on our own.”

Although individual children and small family groups use the library daily there is not enough school age population at this branch to warrant a year-round children’s program of story times and clubs for kids. Iffergan notes, “This library is unique. Most of the places I have worked have had a clientele of all ages. That is not so here. The only real children’s programming we do is in the summer. That was an eye-opener for me.”.So, Iffergan’s programs appeal to the activities wanted by the demographic at this branch—chair yoga, chess, the puzzles, a Book Club, free tax counseling and free gardening advice from the county’s Master Gardeners, and others.

Among the groups that meet at Hickman, the “Stitchin’ Time” crafters are probably at the library for the longest time during one day. They use the meeting room for a drop in stitching and craft time on Mondays from opening until the afternoon movie hour. Their members repay the branch’s hospitality by raising money through the sale of the wonderful items they make.

The AARP free tax advice keeps the parking lot full on the days it is offered, and the Master Gardeners are rarely without a line at their table on their designated days. The Brunswick County Extension Service recognized the value of the partnership of the service with this branch, noting in the Horticultural 2016 staff report, that the work there saved southwestern Brunswick residents, 57,000 miles of driving by giving them local access. In addition, the Hickman Library Satellite information Line placed number one in a statewide search for excellence award.

Two exceptionally popular programs founded by Iffergan are the weekly movie and monthly book club programs. The weekly movie program outgrew the meeting room, so the movies are now shown twice a week, Monday and Friday. The monthly book club is testament to Iffergan’s own love of books and has become a way for other book lovers in the county and across the area (including several who live in Horry County) to get to know each other as well as discuss popular and classic fiction and non-fiction books.

Brooke Triplett, a patron since soon after her move to Sunset Beach in August 2012, also quickly joined the FOL and the Book Club. Book Club is especially dear to Triplett’s heart. “I have always enjoyed reading and discussing books, and when I retired me suddenly had time to read much more which is wonderful. Book club challenges me to think critically about a book, the story the writer created as well as the writing style and book structure. Christi does an excellent job selecting books for the Book club (from member suggestions)and leading the members in discussion. We have a loyal core of readers who attend faithfully and it is an enjoyable hour each month. Book club is also a good place to hear about other books that members are reading.”

After about a year in the book club, she also became a volunteer. Triplett says, “I started out being a member of Hickman’s Crossroad FOL to honor my mother’s memory, and now I really like what’s going on at the library and I am committed to assisting Christi Iffergan and her staff to making the library even better. Christi has a clear vision for the library and has made our library a center for all types of community activities. The library is a very active place on any given day.”

She adds, “Christi is an inclusive person, and therefore her library patrons really enjoy talking with her and she enjoys talking with them. This is an excellent quality to have as a leader. She is also very interested in the performing arts and supports them in the Brunswick and Horry Counties by attending performances and by bringing a variety of artists to the library. Library patrons benefit greatly from Christi’s knowledge of the latest books as well as current movies. She is an excellent modern librarian.”

Tate, noting that Iffergan is always open to new ideas, “Stitchin’ Time,” “ The success of the HC Branch comes from a grand mix of service and dedication: Friends of the Library, volunteers, neighbors, staff and other County employees all working together.” In fact, so many people use the branch that the large storage area next to the current book sale area is being converted to another meeting room space.

For a calendar of events at the branch, turn to http://www.brunswickcountync.gov/library/hickmans-events/ or visit the branch and pick up a flyer or join the Friends of the Library (only $10 per year) to get their newsletter.

To attend any or all of these programs you do not even have to be a cardholder or Brunswick County resident. (Most activities are free, but some classes like chair yoga and stamping do charge a small instructor fee.) Of course, to check out materials you do have to hold a valid Brunswick County library card, free to county residents and only $10 per year for non-residents. On any given day there is bound to be some activity to pique your interest, books and movies to touch your mind and heart, and for sure you will meet a cheerful staff group who are happy to help and will soon know your name and you .

This story was originally published January 27, 2017 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Hickman Crossroads: Where Everybody Knows Your Name."