Public Library Board expresses concern about potential House Bill making board member positions elected

The Cape Girardeau Public Library Board of Trustees expressed concerns Thursday, Feb. 22, about House Bill 2498.

The bill would have public library board members run for election every four years instead of volunteering for the positions and being approved by the city council. A recent draft of the bill states, "A public library that is authorized by state law to levy or collect taxes of any kind shall be governed by an elected public library board."

Library director Katie Earnhart said while there were updates to the bill, they're still not happy with it.

"We're still not pleased that this bill has made it further down the line," Earnhart said when referring to the bill making it out of committee.

Earnhart said while Cape Girardeau has a lot of engaged citizens, that might not be the same case for towns with smaller populations.

"We have a good population to pick from in terms of people who are interested in serving on the library board, probably less so if it were an elected position," Earnhart said. "When you're talking about these small libraries in Missouri, they're scraping the bottom of the barrel just trying to get enough people to serve on their board as volunteers. They're not meeting for everyone because they can't show up. So it's a lot more detrimental to those smaller libraries than it is to us."

District 147 Rep. John Voss told the Southeast Missourian he has not taken a position for or against the bill.

"Not everybody's interested in having their name put on the ballot, and for a position that pays zero, we're basically asking citizens, I think, through this initiative that we want you to pay for government by running for the office without any compensation," Voss said. "It shouldn't always be about the compensation, but we just don't have very good voter turnout."

He said he didn't think the bill would solve the problem in getting more people involved in public service.

He said he enjoyed the time he served on the local library board and learned a lot. Voss said he worries that if a bill like this were to come into effect it would involve politics in libraries more.

"I think it needs to be a place where everyone in our community can come, access materials and become a better person by learning and becoming educated," Voss said. "I appreciate people that take the time out of their lives to give back to their fellow citizens with no compensation."

Other business

The board also held a section for comments from the public. Laura Bain-Selbo said in response to public comments at earlier meetings about books like "This Book is Gay" and "Gender Queer", that while she might not agree with some material included in some libraries, she said the answer wasn't to ban them.

"I worked with hundreds of children and youth many with histories of abuse and trauma. I can say with confidence books were never the cause," Bain-Selbo said. "I know others whose beliefs and values are different from mine, and they have a right to access reading materials that reflect their interests and beliefs. That is the beauty and the challenge of a free society."

Lisa Lambert said she believes there should be a special section in the library containing books with sexual content so it can be away from children.

The board agreed to close down the library for the full day for people to be able to enjoy the eclipse on April 8.