City, county to sort books together
Two rulings in Flathead District Court
last week resulted in the continued removal of books from the
Whitefish library and the temporary closure of the building.
Flathead District Judge Stewart Stadler
Friday ruled against the Whitefish Library Association’s request to
prevent Flathead County from removing books from the branch
library. He also ruled that the county could close the library June
18 to transition control of the facility to the City of Whitefish
by July 1.
The Whitefish Library Association had
asked for an injunction, a temporary restraining order and a
permanent injunction to ensure that all materials housed in the
library on March 1 remain. Stadler denied the request, but ordered
the Flathead County Library Board to allow the association members
access to the library to create an inventory list of the remaining
materials.
Stadler told both parties to resolve
the dispute as quickly as possible and resolve issues that remain
in a lawsuit filed by the library association against the
county.
Mike Collins, chair of the Whitefish
Community Library Board of Trustees, said the trustees are pleased
that the orders supported the trustees’ and association’s desires
for a collaborative review and inventory of the library books and
media in question.
“Our position has always been to work
together for the ultimate benefit of both the city and county
library patrons that we’ve pledged to continue serving as a
community library,” he said in a press release. “We regret that it
had to come to this but we are very pleased that the judge has
ordered the mediated negotiations suggested by the Whitefish team
early in the process. For the first time in this process, we may
have some assurance that books and other materials being removed
from the Whitefish library will be tracked.”
County library officials previously
removed about 6,000 books from Whitefish. The Whitefish City
Council voted last fall to terminate the city’s agreement with
Flathead County and open a city library. Flathead library officials
then began removing books and announced plans to close the facility
June 18.
The Whitefish Library Association filed
a lawsuit against the county June 1. The group wants the court to
order all materials purchased for the Whitefish branch over the
years be returned to Whitefish and the library association be paid
for any materials that were destroyed.
A hearing on the temporary restraining
order began in District Court Thursday.
Joey Kositzky, who has been hired as
the director for the new Whitefish Community Library, testified
that she had “some concerns” about donated books being reassigned
to other libraries.
Kositzky, long-time library branch
manager in Whitefish, said she discovered at least one book
specifically donated to the Whitefish library that had been
relocated to the Columbia Falls branch.
“The home library location had been
changed,” she said of the book’s barcode.
All library materials have a barcode
that designates the book as being a Flathead County item and also
being assigned to a specific library in the county system. Some of
the books donated to Whitefish are designated only as such with a
sticker inside the book.
County library officials have promised
that any books specifically donated to the Whitefish branch would
remain in Whitefish after the county stops running the branch.
Officials, however, denied a request by the library association to
inventory books alongside county workers as the books are
sorted.
“The books are not physically being
looked at,” Kositzky claimed. “They may have a sticker saying
they’re donated, but that’s not in the computer.”
After more than two hours of testimony
Thursday, Stadler began questioning Flathead County Library
Director Kim Crowley.
Stadler asked Crowley what county
officials would do if at some point the county ordered that some of
the removed books be returned to Whitefish.
“What I don’t want is this to go to
trial in a year and then after it’s decided someone says they can’t
find the books,” he said.
Crowley said the original 6,000 books
removed are gone.
Stadler asked if the remaining books to
be sorted could be tracked and if any are required to be returned
to Whitefish those books could, in fact, return.
“Well, there’s always some books that
don’t get returned or their dog eats them,” Crowley said.
Stadler asked Crowley if donated books
could have slipped through in the review process and were no longer
in Whitefish.
Crowley admitted that it was
possible.
When he asked if “two sets of eyes”
looking at books would make it less likely for a donated book to
“slip by,” Crowley said, “yes.”
Stadler asked Crowley if there would be
any reason a person from the library association couldn’t be
present during the review process.
“It’s pretty intensive computer work,”
she responded.
“You don’t look at the books?” he
asked.
“Sure we do,” she responded.
He then asked if a library association
volunteer could look at the remaining books during the continuing
review process. Crowley’s response was “yes.”
Volunteers could assure the remaining
books with donation stickers remain in Whitefish, he asked. Again
she responded, “yes.”
The city of Whitefish is set to begin
operating the Whitefish Community Library on July 1. Library staff
plans to provide some limited services in the Community Room of the
library building — possibly computer access — during the transition
time. The library will re-open the first week of July.
For more information on the transition
visit www.whitefishlibrary.org.