An ImagineIF Libraries trustee disputed the depiction of a recent decision to forgo observation of Banned Books Week as a board decision during a Sept. 28 meeting packed by residents hoping to weigh in on the mandate.

Trustee Jane Wheeler said she only learned that the decision to cancel the celebration, which highlights books banned or removed from libraries and schools, was being presented as a board-wide decision after it was reported on in the local media. She also said she believed the decision, made outside of a regular meeting, was inappropriate.

“There was no public meeting motion or formal board approval to direct this program,” Wheeler said, reading from a prepared statement. “Individual board members have their opinions on the banned book with displays, but there was no formal and public consensus.”

Wheeler also argued that trustees are barred from interfering with the day-to-day duties of the library director, per the organization’s manual.

Banned Books Week typically is celebrated Oct. 1-7. Board Chair David Ingram previously told the Daily Inter Lake that the trustees’ move to forgo it this year arose out of a December 2021 decision to distance the county library system from the American Library Association. He said the board also believes the celebration is too divisive.

Trustee Doug Adams reiterated Ingram’s previous remarks in responding to Wheeler’s allegations. He said the decision against marking Banned Books Week stemmed from the board’s choice to leave the national library organization. The library observed it in 2022, which Adams said was because Library Director Ashley Cummins asked them to not remove the celebration for fear of community backlash.

“[Cummins'] opinion was, ‘It seems like we're fighting so many battles, or we're getting beat up on all sides … Can we just slow it down a little bit?’ And so we relented last year, we delayed last year, simply because we did not want more controversy,” Adams said. “And this year, we simply applied the existing policy.”

The American Library Association was one of the first adopters of Banned Books Week and manages aspects of the celebration. The site bannedbooksweek.com is managed by the Banned Books Week coordinator and the national organization’s Office of Intellectual Freedom, which also publishes a list of the most challenged books in the United States each year.

The Banned Books Week Coalition is made up of several organizations, including the American Library Association, Amnesty International, Association of University Presses and Pen America, among others.

Wheeler pressed her colleagues on who held the authority to decide whether a program was divisive. She also warned of the repercussions of acting without a board decision.

“I'm sorry that there's a difference in interpretation on this,” Wheeler said. “But again, we have to be so careful that the board speaks as one voice and does it intentionally. Just because I think we get ourselves into all sorts of problems.”

Several people both for and against the board’s decision to drop Banned Books Week spoke during the public comment period of the meeting.

Laurie Halfast of Bigfork said the rationale for forgoing the celebration remained unclear to her.

“If you don't want to support the Banned Books Week at the library, don't go back then,” Halfast said. “You know, it's that easy. It's no different than saying I'm against banning guns … Let everybody make their own decision.”

Jeff Ellingson of Kalispell said he appreciated the board deeming Banned Books Week as a divisive program.

“[It is] particularly focused on certain books that are, I think by our community standards, generally perceived as sexualizing in their discussions,” Ellingson said. “Banned Books Week has become so controversial that it's not appropriate for a publicly funded organization such as our library to promote it.”

Others echoed Ellingson’s sentiments about inappropriate content in books and the perceived politics of the American Library Association. Yet others chastised the board for its decision, accusing trustees of supporting censorship.

Despite the discussion, the board took no formal action on Banned Books Week.

TRUSTEES LEARNED that a proposal to relocate the library system’s Kalispell branch to a city-owned building at Depot Park had been permanently shelved.

Kalispell officials planned to renovate the building and move the municipality’s Parks and Recreation Department into the facility, Wheeler told her colleagues during a facilities committee update. The city also plans on establishing a law enforcement presence there, she said.

Vice Chair Carmen Cuthbertson, who sits on the facilities committee, said the group is re-orientating themselves with the options available. Earlier this year, the facilities committee became dedicated to finding plausible options for a new Kalispell branch, due to constraints presented by its current building and a deadline on the library’s lease on the structure.

“While this was a bit of a setback, to have to give up on something we were gung-ho for, there are a lot of options and we're just moving forward,” Cuthbertson said.

She said they met recently with volunteer Realtor Wendy Brown to explore one option available to ImagineIF. Out of the group’s original list of 25 sites, eight remain after changes in the real estate market.

During her report to the board, ImagineIF Foundation Director Sara Busse said contractors can submit bids for the planned construction of the library’s new Bigfork building. The capital campaign for the project has raised $1.8 million so far with a goal of $3.2 million. She said construction will begin upon selection of a bid.

Also during the report, Busse said she wanted to read a prepared statement on behalf of the Foundation regarding the trustees’ Banned Books Week decision. She said her organization received pushback from residents, who confuse the roles of the Foundation and the board. She said the Foundation has to continually act as the public relations arm for the trustees, in order to “explain these political decisions that affect our vibrant library ecosystem and retain philanthropic participation.”

“We respectfully ask that the trustees revisit their role of transparent fiscal and policy oversight versus programmatic dictates and insertion into the day-to-day operations of ImagineIF,” Busse said. “This perspective will prove to be mutually beneficial to all who believe in the transformative power of community libraries.”

The next ImagineIF Library Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26 at the City Hall Council Chambers in Columbia Falls at 9 a.m.

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached at 406-758-4433 or by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com.