Trustees: 'Hands have been tied' in several important matters with Lincoln Library

A Lincoln Library board of trustee said "a pattern of disrespect and disregard for the board" has made trustees question what their roles are.

Geoffrey Pettys, reading a letter signed off by trustees at Tuesday's Springfield City Council meeting, said the board has been left out of the hiring process for the library's last three directors, a trend he would like to see reversed as the library seeks a new director.

Changes in library administration over the last several years, Pettys said, have come at the will of whoever happens to be mayor, reversing periods of stability and changing the landscape of the library.

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"The position of library director should not be a political one," Pettys said, "and it now seems to be intrinsically linked to the mayor's office in a way that prevents us from attracting dedicated, innovative and passionate candidates we need to make sure Lincoln Library is the gem it deserves to be."

The library is searching for a director after Summer Beck-Griffith was fired days into Mayor Misty Buscher's term.

Interim library director Kathryn Harris is on a contract with the city through the end of August.

The board, Pettys said, has "a legal and fiduciary obligation to ensure that our public library provides the highest quality service. We feel that these standards have not been met and that our hands have been tied in several important matters with Lincoln Library since at least 2017."

Pettys said he is unsure why the relationship went south.

The board was not part of a national search that brought in Will O'Hearn as director under Mayor Jim Langfelder in 2017.

"The board was not part of the search in 2019 that brought in Rochelle Hartman," Pettys said. "The board was not informed nor consulted when Rochelle Hartman was fired in 2022. The board was not involved in the hiring of Summer Beck-Griffith in 2022 and the board was not consulted about Summer's firing two months ago."

Hartman and Griffith were also hired under Langfelder.

Pettys has proposed that board members be given resumes and cover letters of candidates involved in the current search; an opportunity to interview applicants and an opportunity to recommend to the mayor and to the city council the applicant to be hired.

"Some have stated that the library board is advisory only," Pettys said. "To be advisory is to assume advice is both sought and given. We have not been afforded that privilege. We are understandably upset that we've not been allowed to fulfill our duties as trustees, duties that are spelled out in the city code."

Board President Andre Jordan said the board didn't want potential candidates "to be hesitant about applying because a new administration might come in and terminate them. That's not good."

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Harris, who retired as division manager for library services at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in 2015, was tasked by the mayor with finding a new director.

Harris, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said she has addressed the board and is hoping all parties can come to a resolution.

One of the problems, Harris noted, is that city ordinances, the board's bylaws and the director's position description "aren't in sync" when it comes to addressing the role of the board.

"I sent those to Corporation Counsel (Greg Moredock), and I suggested that he fix it," Harris said. "I'm hoping, much as Geoff said, we can work together for a resolution, so everybody can be on the same page."

Buscher, in a statement, said she was looking forward to discussions between Harris and the board that would place a permanent director at the library.

Jordan said the board would be following up with Harris to see what next steps were "as far as having a seat at the table."

'Outside agitators'

Ward 6 Ald. Jennifer Notariano had some cross words for the Illinois Freedom Caucus and the Independent Women's Forum, organizers of last Thursday's rally against the YMCA of Springfield.

Notariano called them "outsider agitators" who had come to Springfield "to sow discord."

"We all appreciate that the YMCA strives to offer a welcoming space, so I choose to highlight the staff, the administration and the members who make it that way, rather than the politicians who traveled 100 miles out of their way to use our community as a backdrop for their manufactured outrage," said Notariano towards the end of the meeting.

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The rally was held at Rotary Park, just across from the Kerasotes YMCA on West Iles Avenue.

Abbigail Wheeler, 16, of Loami said she was kicked off the YMCA swim team and banned from the organization after protesting about seeing "a biological man" changing in the women's locker room.

Wheeler, who spoke at the rally, said she was told that YMCA officials had been "aware for a while” of transgender women using the women’s locker room. Wheeler was informed that as an alternative she could use the YMCA’s private family changing areas.

Emails provided by the YMCA to The State Journal-Register also suggested Wheeler’s parents voluntarily removed her from the swim team and canceled their membership.

"To those politicians who came to our city to foment outrage, we will not match your vitriol," Notariano added. "We will not give you any more of the headlines and the clicks you came for. Instead, we hope that you find the peace that you are lacking, and we hope you receive more grace that you offered to our neighbors."

Ward 8 Ald. Erin Conley said she was supportive of Notariano's comments and "sorry that (the YMCA of Springfield) have had to deal with some extreme ugliness."

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: The Lincoln Library board of trustees is hoping to play a more active role