Amended at 6:30 p.m. to add comment from Scudder G. Stevens
During a 2 ½-hour meeting on Tuesday, July 21, the beleaguered Kennett Library board came out swinging – and delivered some surprises.
Board President Susan Mackey-Kallis began the meeting by reading a long excerpt from an opinion piece that had been submitted to one local media outlet. It pointedly took issue with recent public statements made by Kennett Township Supervisors’ Chairman Scudder G. Stevens.
“We refute EVERY single claim made by Scudder Stevens at the July 15 township meeting – they were all wrong/false/twisted versions of real events,” Mackey-Kallis read. After the meeting, Mackey-Kallis acknowledged that the submission should have been more widely distributed. It can be found here.
Later in the meeting, Mackey-Kallis said the board had changed course and is now actively pursuing a plan to keep the library in the borough. Previously, plans had been underway to relocate to a new facility on Ways Lane in Kennett Township – property the library already owns. A proposal to purchase borough-owned property known as the Weinstein lot is being revisited, she said.
Mackey-Kallis attributed the change of direction to impetus from the borough and Kennett Township along with new information about parking available near the Weinstein property. It is located at the intersection of East State and South Willow Streets.
The popularity of the library – which serves residents in the Borough of Kennett Square and seven townships: East Marlborough, Kennett, Newlin, New Garden, Pennsbury, Pocopson, and West Marlborough – has played a role in current tensions. For years, increases in circulation that defy national figures have been driving relocation plans.
Although stakeholders agree that the library has outgrown its current space in the 200 block of East State Street in downtown Kennett Square, the search for a new venue has fomented dissent – and turnover on the library board. Five board members resigned in the past two years, and, to date, three townships – Pocopson, East Marlborough and West Marlborough – lack representation on the board, which now has 12 members.
Stressing transparency, the board has held four town hall-style meetings in the past several months in an effort to clear the air. However, mistrust continues to surface.
Mackey-Kallis said library representatives attended the July 15 Kennett Township meeting to applaud the addition of two new board members: Bill McLachlan and Jeff Yetter. Instead, she said they were so “blindsided by false charges” from Stevens, including allegations that the library has presented inflated attendance numbers, that the board needed time to collect its thoughts.
“You nailed it,” Stanley Allen, an East Marlborough Township resident, said of the board’s response, calling it vindication.
Meaghan Schiller, a Kennett Township resident, said she was dismayed by “how the library was verbally attacked” at the meeting. “I feel like you guys were put in an extraordinarily difficult position,” she said.
Reached for comment, Stevens said his statement is based on documented facts. “The more important part of it is the call to the library board to join with Kennett Township and the other municipalities to work together in good faith to resolve the many misunderstandings that have developed,” he said. “It is encouraging that there finally appears to be some movement in the discussions between that board and Kennett Borough Council.
“Instead of continuing with the recriminations, if we can all focus on building trust and shared commitment, I’m hopeful this important relationship can be restored,” Stevens continued. “A first step would be for the library board to begin to work with the independent task force in a full, open and candid manner.”
Collis Townsend, a former board member, was one of a handful of residents who attended Tuesday night’s meeting. “In 15 years, I’ve never seen relations between the library and the municipalities worse,” he said.
Townsend added that he does not believe the current environment is conducive to change, and he echoed a proposal made recently by Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick to form an independent task force.
After discussion about the Weinstein property, the board voted unanimously to authorize its new building committee to draft a memorandum of understanding (MOU)) for a plan and timeline to acquire the Weinstein lot and possibly an adjacent parcel for parking.
“This has not moved forward in the past because we didn’t have things in writing,” Mackey-Kallis said of the MOU.
Mackey-Kallis said the borough has identified a Keystone Recreation Park and Conservation Fund grant that could be available. The application period begins in April. She said additional incentives to stay in the borough include a potential buyer for the Ways Lane/Waywood Road property at $1 million and the possibility of selling the current location for $800,000 to $1 million.
Board member Karen Ammon initially expressed some hesitation, explaining, “I feel like I’ve been here twice before.” However, she said she feels the board is in “the strongest and most transparent spot” in her four years on it. “I always wanted to stay in the borough if it’s possible,” she said.
The board also voted to get bids for appraisals of both library-owned parcels.
Donna Murray, the library’s director, reported that attendance at programs increased 22 percent during the January to June period. She said her staff deserves credit for selecting and running activities such as a music camp for toddlers and the “Science of Superheroes” program that engage their audience.
She said circulation showed a decline, which she attributed to the 17 days the library was closed due to construction or inclement weather. She strongly disputed suggestions that attendance numbers have been inflated, explaining that the library uses an electronic counter at the front entrance that is monitored by the county “to get uniform data.”
If anything, Murray suggested the numbers might be low because sometimes groups scheduled for programs enter through the library’s side door.
Ammon, who chairs the board’s development committee, welcomed Yetter and McLachlan to the board, which also voted to appoint Chris Britt from the Chadds Ford section of Kennett Township and Rosa Quintana as at-large members. Quintana had previously represented Kennett Township, expressed interest in stepping down because she thought she was moving, and then changed her mind. However, the township, seeking a change, ended her appointment at its July 15 meeting.
A feasibility study commissioned by the library board to assess the climate for a capital campaign for the new facility appeared on the agenda, prompting an apology from Ammon for not removing it. “We did not have enough turnaround time to bring it to the full board tonight,” she explained.
McLachlan asked whether the public would have access to the study, and Mackey-Kallis said no, explaining that it contained “proprietary and confidential” information.
The board engaged in a spirited debate about what financial information would be made available on its website. Board Treasurer Joan Weber advocated a summary while McLaughlin favored more detail.
“You’re not going to give a novel to a 5-year-old,” said Weber, arguing that too much detail could be misconstrued. McLachlan countered that more information would illustrate “excellent transparency,” and he suggested that the board’s finance committee be given the task of working out a compromise.
Speaking via teleconference call, Geoff Birkett, the board’s vice-chairman, asked, “Who is it that doesn’t trust us, other than Kennett Township?” He also noted that having such discussions in public signaled the board’s efforts to be more accountable.
Carrie Freeman, CEO of United Way of Southern Chester County, said she attended the meeting because one of the agenda items was “closing the budget gap in the adult literacy program.” She estimated that United Way has probably contributed half a million dollars in the past decade to the popular initiative although, due to competing interests and lower revenue, its 2015 contribution decreased by $10,000 to $37,140.
Mackey-Kallis said she didn’t have any answers for the shortfall – estimated by Murray at about $35,000 – but she wanted the public to be aware the board is trying to be fiscally accountable. In the past, the board has dipped into interest from its capital reserves, an option the board would like to avoid.
She said she would like to see more support from the mushroom companies, since many of the program’s participants are employed by them. “I think it’s very disappointing that we don’t get support from that industry,” she said.
Finally, the board approved a motion presented by Ammon to reassess the regulations in the bylaws that govern the selection of the board of trustees “to allow for the appointment of one library board representative by the Kennett Square Borough and by each of the seven townships we serve, regardless of their current library funding allocation.”
Under the current regulations, which include a “fair share” calculation, township representation is based in part on funding, enabling some municipalities to have up to two appointed members. Ammon said she believes representation should not be dictated by contributions.
According to 2014 library data on municipal funding, Kennett Township, which has 4,165 library card holders, contributed $153,620; East Marlborough, with 2,111 card holders, allocated $105,372; New Garden, with 2,318 card holders, paid $12,000; Kennett Square Borough, with 1,357 card holders, contributed $37,100; Pocopson, with 1,089 card holders, contributed nothing; Pennsbury, which has 1,089 card holders, paid $30,000; Newlin, with 373 card holders, contributed $9,000; and West Marlborough, with 175 card holders, chipped in $1,500.
The next library board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 15.
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