Shhhh! This is a library (board)!

For many years, the Madison-Jefferson County Public Library and its board have operated “under the radar” in this community. Quick — tell me the name of just one member of the current board. You can’t, can you? Neither can I — and it’s doubtful if anyone living at this moment has spent more time in that library than I have.

On Wednesday, July 21, at 4 p.m., the board will hold its regular meeting for this month, at the library. Everyone who can manage to do so should attend that meeting. It’s high time a bright light was turned on this taxpayer-funded institution in our community.

Those of you who keep up with local news will know that the library’s board and director have recently come under blistering criticism, both verbal and legal, for firing two employees under circumstances that the employees believe did not justify their dismissals. One of these employees already had been designated as the director of the new Hanover-Jefferson County Library branch, prior to her getting the old heave-ho. Sources have told me that another long-time library employee is being targeted for dismissal, also.

Now, in many ways we have a library we can be proud of. Its selection of books is kept up-to-date (better than a number of libraries I’ve been in); it has a large collection of VHS and DVD films for public consumption; and its voluminous local archives are invaluable to this community. I’ll be the first one to tip my hat to the board and staff for all those things (and to their predecessors as well).

The problem I’ve had for many years with our library, is the on-site management of it — in particular, the various library directors. It’s my belief that people who take the trouble to earn the diplomas and qualifications to head libraries, tend to be people who like to control other people — to tell them what to do, and more importantly, what NOT to do. They like to be constantly looking over your shoulder, often  figuratively but sometimes literally, like they’re your sixth grade teacher and you’re a problem child who has to be watched closely. It doesn’t make for a pleasant  library experience, let me tell you. Yes, I’ve had run-ins with various librarians on more than one occasion — the most recently today — but that’s not the main reason I’m writing this. Other people have told me about the school-marmish behavior of some library directors.

This isn’t to criticize the employees, the people who just work there, a couple of whom I consider friends. Often they are the first targets of an overly-controlling boss, whether it’s the current director, a previous one, or directors in the future. They can be sympathetic, but they have to do what they’re told. This is not a good time to be losing a job (if there are any good times).

I’m told that members of the library board are appointed by various elected bodies in the city and county. That’s fine. But we hear news reports about what other appointed boards are doing. Until a big fuss blows up, like the library is facing now,  the library board might as well be operating behind closed doors. I presume The Madison Courier is going to send a reporter to the July 21 meeting; it should plan to cover ALL the library board meetings from now on. As the senior reporter at the Courier for a number of years, I was remiss in not pushing for such coverage then. But I am now. And I’m strongly considering sitting in on each of their meetings from now on, so I can write an occasional report on this website about them. I’m not suggesting for a minute that the board does anything in those meetings that it shouldn’t. But every such public body should operate in the light of day — unless it’s in executive session for a legitimate reason, of course.

Remember, the library board votes on how to spend a sizeable chunk of your tax dollars each year. You should be interested in what they’d doing. Try your best to make the next meeting: Wednesday, July 21, 4 p.m., at the library.

I’ll certainly be there.