A crowd of about 150 family members, friends and local business owners gathered for a reception to honor Craig Moreau as he steps into his new role as executive director of the Round Top Family Library, a vital resource and hub for this entire Texas countryside region. 

Brooke and Paul Michie of Round Top Brewing catered the event, which was held on a perfect spring evening on the Round Top Family Library‘s lawn. Guests toasted Moreau with beer provided by Steve Seberger of La Grange-based Brown Distributing. Black Cat Choir Acoustical Trio — with vocalist Lisa Smith — set the mood as everyone mingled and explored the library’s campus.

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Kathy and Dale Young (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Round Top Family Library Board President Ed Ellis and Lamar Lentz (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Mark and Katrina Elvig (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Marcos Hernandez, Craig Moreau

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Rob Rosenbaum and David Walther (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Susannah Mikulin, Sandy Flint and Lizzy Welch (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Zuzana Kastleman, Joan Herring and Jordan Geibel (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Jerry Herring (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Jerome and Blythe Cone, Jim Kastleman (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Madison Moreau, Nethaniel Gjesdal with State Representative Stan Kitzman’s Office (center), Joanie Havlic, Craig Moreau

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Julia, Sofia and Lucas Johnson

Moreau was tapped for the library’s executive director position in January, ending the search for fresh leadership for the indispensable small town Texas library that began late last year. 

Prior to accepting the position, Moreau served Fayette County in several roles. His public service positions include chair of the Workforce Coalition for Rural Texas, co-founder of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), member of both the Homeland Security Task Force and Regional Intelligence Center, and vice president of the Gardenia E. Janssen Animal Shelter.  

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The Black Cat Acoustical Trio with Lisa Smith (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Guests gathering for the reception for Craig Moreau at the Round Top Family Library (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Bites by Round Top Brewing (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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The Round Top Family Library (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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The Round Top Family Library (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

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Guests gathering for the reception for Craig Moreau at the Round Top Family Library (photo by Chris Pierre Bachman)

In his new position, Moreau will ensure that the library continues to function as a nucleus for the greater Round Top region’s rapidly growing population, providing much needed services and educational programs for people of all ages and myriad interests. The library offers yoga, preschool story time, art after school for elementary students, summer programs, a chess club, gardening for kids, book talks featuring local authors and more.

“There’s not a whole lot of career firefighters that jump into running a library,” Moreau said during a speech at the reception. “The nonprofits in this community are really what is driving this community. The churches and the charities are really first and foremost in everything that happens here.

“The RTFL is an incredibly special place. We have a wonderful library, but we have so much more as well. This is a community center for everyone.”