Library Board Elects 2023 Officers, Recommends New Trustee From 17-Person Applicant Pool

The Library Board of Trustees opened 2023 against the backdrop of an ongoing challenge to library books by the group Citizens Defending Education (CDE). President Carol Harpster recapped the situation for the board, and during public comment, resident Phil Johnson made a specific procedural point -- that under library policy, individual residents, not organizations, are entitled to file formal appeals of book-reconsideration decisions -- which Harpster further clarified for those present.

The board unanimously elected its 2023 officers: Carol Harpster as President, Bernice Bonnett as Vice President, David Lefkovits as Treasurer, and Deanna Pagano as Secretary. It also unanimously recommended Tina Payne, chosen from a pool of 17 applicants, to the Mayor and Council for appointment to a five-year trustee term, and separately approved a package of eight routine governance resolutions covering purchasing rules, professional-services retention, auditor and attorney appointments, official newspaper designations, petty cash accounts, official depositories, and check-signing authority.

The board also approved an amended Materials Selection Policy that clarifies review timing and sets a 36-month window before any previously reviewed book can be reconsidered. The Friends of the Library's annual fundraising appeal brought in $11,833 from 96 donors, beating its $10,000 goal, and the library's new self-service pickup lockers -- funded by the Friends and installed December 2, 2022 -- began a soft launch to interested patrons. In a second public comment period, resident Cynthia Garcia asked whether the regional library consortium BCCLS gets involved in book challenges; Director Tina Marie Doody said it does not. Resident Daniel Zinman asked that lists of any challenged books be posted before the board's next meeting; the library confirmed they would be.

What to watch

• The Friends of the Library will hold an Open House on January 21, 2023, followed by their annual business meeting.
• The library's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Task Force is scheduled to meet on January 18, 2023.
• The board is expected to review and vote on the CDE book appeals at its February 8, 2023 meeting.