The Pilot News - Heated exchange marks library board meeting

Pointing out that the state auditor checks the library’s books, board president Ron Cole told Nyby the board wouldn’t discuss the matter. Board member Phil Mallory added, “Public input is for comment, not discussion.”
Nyby countered that he had asked library director Carol Jackson to put him on the agenda for the meeting and had been told by her that she would do so (Nyby was not on the meeting’s agenda). Audience member Russ Mason added, “Why wasn’t he put on the agenda if he asked to be on it? If he was on the agenda, we could have had a discussion. It’s not proper to not put him on agenda. We don’t want the library board to give the public the impression that you’re tying to hide something. I don’t think you are. If you’re not trying to, you should discuss this.”
Mason asked Jackson why Nyby wasn’t on the agenda. “After asking several board members,” she replied, “it was decided there was not a specific subject (presented by Nyby). Mr. Nyby just told me he wanted to be on the agenda.”
Nyby countered that he had given Jackson a document which she told him would be referred to the library’s attorney, and that he then asked to be on the agenda and was told he would be.
“I think everything that needs to be known about the library’s finances (is) publicly available,” said Mallory. “There are people making everything a discussion instead of a statement; it is obvious that there are agendas here other than library business…one of the problems stated was we’re spending too much money, and the board doesn’t agree.”
Mason replied that he was interested in discussion of financial balances in the library’s budget. “The ground always shifts,” said Mallory. “The spending didn’t stir anything up, so we’re going to start sniping…the state board is happy with the books.”
“I don’t think so,” Mason said. “They wrote you up.”
Board member Rita Lawson told Nyby he needed to be specific about what he wanted on the agenda. “When I talked to Carol (Jackson),” said Nyby, “she didn’t have to tell me to be specific? She could just ignore it instead of telling me to be specific?”
“Any time that someone has an issue they want discussed by the board,” said Mallory, “they need to submit the issue and it would probably be a good idea to state exactly what the issue is. The board sets the agenda, period. This ain’t a town meeting…we are not required to even answer questions. That’s a simple fact.”
“You’re speaking of the letter of the law,” countered Mason. “What about the spirit of the law?..you’re serving the public.”
“No, sir,” interjected Mallory. “We do not serve the public. We serve the library. There’s a difference…we are not elected. We have no responsibility to the public, except to the library.”
Mason responded that the board is handling his tax money, and asked, “Who’s the library? It’s a building.”
“Who’s General Motors?” Mallory asked. “It’s an institution.”
“…With stockholders,” Mason insisted. “We’re the stockholders of our library. We’re the taxpayers. That’s who you’re responsible to. If you don’t believe that, then you don’t belong on this board.”
“I decided I wanted to serve on this board to give something back,” Mallory said. “I have never seen such sniping, backbiting people.”
Audience member Leroy Bean interjected, “Excuse me…pardon me…I don’t care if you’re on this board or any board. You are out of order when you talk like that!”
Board member Carol Saft read an excerpt from the reference manual for Indiana public library boards concerning finances. “We have to know enough to feel comfortable that money is coming in and going out according to (the budget),” she said. “That’s what we’re really trying to do.”
“When you say that and I look through records and find that’s not the case,” said Nyby, “when do I get the time to talk about that?...I want to bring that question up and it’s called sniping. Who do I talk to about these potential violations?”
Asked by Mallory if he felt the state board of accounts is incorrect in its assessment, Nyby asked Mallory if he had read the library’s audit. “I’m not an accountant,” replied Mallory.
“You don’t have to be to read it,” Nyby said. “It’s clear. There are so many discrepancies in your records; if you don’t want to hear about them, how do you think they’ll get better?”
Saft said it appears that the library is on budget at the moment, and she asked Nyby to allow the board time to review what he gave them. “Let us look at it. We can give you input next time. It’s not fair for us to say we’re going to get it figured out here and now.”
Reiterating his comment that the board should follow the spirit of the law and not the letter, Mason added, “The board minutes are available (to the public), the finance reports are available, but you aren’t. How do you want the public to communicate with the library board? I think that’s a reasonable question.”
Board president Ron Cole told the Citizen that the board will meet in the near future to discuss library finances.
In other news, Saft thanked director Jackson for making the library’s financial reports available before the meeting so the board could go over them. Jackson also commented on three items brought up at last month’s meeting, explaining that the negative balance in the children’s gift fund was due to that fund being an unrestricted account, which allows transfers to be made between it and two other funds. She noted that a couple of items had been posted to the children’s account last month that had made it negative.
She also explained that a deposit previously made but not earmarked for the library’s PLAC account had caused that account to end with a negative balance last month and clarified that the recent Rainy Day Fund overage check the library received was not for the Rainy Day Fund and debt services account, but the Rainy Day fund and operating budget instead.
Jackson also reported favorably on a recent trip she and children’s librarian Linda Thorne made to Columbus, Ohio to a public library conference. “As a small library,” she said, “we’re ahead and doing a lot more than some libraries at this conference. We have a healthy budget and programming and attendance; we’re way over some of the bigger branches. We came away feeling very confident in what our library is doing, very excited that we’re up with the big dogs.”
She added that Indiana public libraries are not unique in funding cuts and other challenges, and that some large library systems had to shut down in other states. “It’s a nationwide deficiency.”
In response to board member Dave Campbell’s asking whether the library has “all the bases covered in terms of programs and services,” Jackson responded positively.
Jackson also said that the library’s local history and genealogy director Colleen Carpenter Rowe has developed several programs for National Historic Restoration month in May, and that the library’s genealogy group has started meeting again. The board approved upgrading Rowe’s status from part time to full time at Jackson’s request. Jackson said the upgrade had been allotted for previously in the library’s budget, and she praised Rowe as “a great asset” to the library.
She added that Thorne and young adult assistant Alison Schuldt are visiting local schools promoting this year’s summer reading program at the library. She added that several restaurants had already committed to this summer’s Taste of Culver festival and several items have come in for the library’s Autographed by the Celebrity – of ABC – auction later this year.
Jackson noted that the children’s area’s old carpeting had been torn out and there was an additional cost of $957 for the new carpet because the cost of the new had gone up by the time the decision was made to upgrade. She also said that trees have been planted around the west parking lot of the library and the lot is ready to be sealed and striped.
Board president Cole also said that treasurer Rebecca Church is leaving the board and a new person coming in.