MacNeil: Frankfort library trustee explains resignation

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Kay MacNeil

Updated: March 3, 2012 11:38AM

The Frankfort Public Library has had three years, a new administrator, two new library board presidents and four new trustees to recover from the well-known disruptions caused by an interim librarian in 2008.

With great remorse, we have failed. Nor do I have confidence that the present administration and board can return the library to the smooth, effective operation it was prior to 2008. Thus, I have chosen to resign from the board.

Frankfort is one of a very few libraries nationally using the Dewey-free system that costs more to process and get books on the shelves. Patrons, trustees and even the library director himself have complained that they can’t find books.

But the effort to have the library return to the widely used Dewey Decimal System has been stymied.

There are other problems, too. The board has difficulty making decisions, often preferring not to face issues, such as the Dewey-free system and the resurfacing of the parking lot, which was ready to go in 2008 and remains undone.

There are two important tasks for the library’s management and board — to prudently manage taxpayer money and to provide library services to patrons.

While the library’s budget is appropriate for this economic environment, there has been increased spending that the board has been unable to arrest.

In 2009 and 2010, there was a surprise series of new hires, bypassing efforts to hold down costs. At least one department head grossly overspent her allocated budget with no repercussions. Minor projects became major expenses.

On the library’s second priority, providing excellent service, the most obvious step is to return to the Dewey Decimal System, used by all but three libraries in the U.S. The notion of going off the Dewey system was poorly conceived and never approved by the board until after the fact.

I am approached often in the community by patrons who object to the new system, saying it’s too difficult to find materials. The library administrator has frequently said he doesn’t like it, and several library trustees told me they want to return to the Dewey Decimal System.

But when I tried to get the issue on the board agenda, the library administrator on Jan. 23 told me that he and the board president thought it would cost too much to go back.

This with no discussion, no figures, no analysis, no meeting of the board, no regard for patron wishes.

For the first half of the fiscal year, the library is under budget so it can easily afford to spend the money. Whatever the amount, which I am certain would be negligible, it would be well spent.

The Frankfort Public Library’s cataloguing of books needs to be like the system used by our school districts, colleges and other libraries.

After 17 years on the library board, having supported the library as a fundraiser and volunteer since it opened and fighting for what’s best for the library and its patrons, I chose to resign.

It has been too disheartening and frustrating an experience for me during the past three years, especially when no one is held accountable.

Kay MacNeil is a Frankfort resident and a former member of the Frankfort Public Library Board.