Damakant Jayshi
Marathon County’s administrator is proposing candidates to fill the three vacancies on the library’s Board of Trustees and named a nominee to represent the county on a regional library organization.
These nominees will be discussed at the educational meeting of the Marathon County Board of Supervisors. Voting will be held at the regular county board’s meeting on Jan. 24.
Administrator Lance Leonhard named Dist. 7 Supervisor Becky Buch and LeeAnn Podruch, of Hatley, to each serve a 3-year term on the Board of Trustees of the Marathon County Public Library. If confirmed, they will be replacing Dist. 1 Supervisor Michelle Van Krey and President of the Board of Trustees, Sharon Hunter, whose terms ended last month. Leonhard proposed an extension of their terms but the County Board voted against the recommendation.
The county administrator also proposed Mosinee Mayor and former county supervisor, Brent Jacobson, to replace library board trustee Jeff Campo, who has resigned. He would complete a three-year term that expires on Dec. 31 this year.
The county board will also hear about Kathryn Amy Palmer, of Kronenwetter, who Leonhard is nominating to represent the county on the Wisconsin Valley Library Service Board of Trustees. The administrator initially tapped Palmer to replace Campo but the county board voted against the nomination when refusing to extend the terms of Van Krey and Hunter.
The county board’s actions have been viewed as an act of retaliation by some supervisors. But many conservative members of the county board were incensed that the MCPL Board of Trustees did not heed their demand to remove some books, terming them pornographic, from the public library. The Library Board voted to retain challenged books in the juvenile section on recommendations by a review committee. That committee also made it clear that only parents can restrict access of their children to library materials.
“Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that parents – and only parents – have the right and the responsibility to restrict the access of their children – and only their children – to library resources,” the five-member review committee said, pointing to the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights.
But critics challenging the books would have none of it. While some wanted the books removed completely, others said they should remain, but shift to the adult section. Other supervisors and residents asked the county board to respect their right to have access to those books and urged the board not to impose their and a section of the community’s choice on others. An attempt by some supervisors to drastically reduce the budget of the public library did not succeed and the final cut, $69,000, was much lower than the originally proposed figure, $365,000.
Library Board meeting Monday to elect new office-bearers, confer with outside counsel
The Library Board will elect a new president and vice president on Monday, Jan. 23. The president’s position is vacant. Kari Sweeney is the current vice president of the Board of Trustees.
The group will also hold a closed session to confer with legal counsel about potential action related to the recent developments.
County Administrator Leonhard and the MCPL Director Leah Giordano declined to speak about any potential litigation regarding the “library operations and funding.”
Giordano said additional information is privileged at this time. “The board will make public any announcements or actions related to the discussion once they return to open session,” she told Wausau Pilot & Review.
Leonhard said he was not specifically aware of the discussions of the library board. When asked about any potential lawsuit, he told this newspaper that he was not aware of any lawsuit being filed against the Board of Supervisors and/or the MCPL Board of Trustees.
