Library groups tangle during local meeting

Discontent that has been simmering for several years between the Columbia Falls Library Association and the Imagine IF Library came to a boil March 24. What set the waters roiling was the usual culprit — money.

The Association is a small voluntary organization established in 1955 that raises money for the Columbia Falls Branch Library, hosts meetings for local crafts groups, provides books to 24 schools and groups across Northwest Montana and operates a used book store in uptown Columbia Falls.

Six people regularly attend meetings, volunteer for the Association and consider themselves members. As a registered nonprofit, it has officers and bylaws — and it has about $140,000 invested through a local financial adviser.

About $74,000 of that money came from Mary Binsfeld, who stated in her 1998 will that she wanted the money to go to the “Columbia Falls Public Library.” Governments typically have a nonprofit fundraising group handle gifts, so the money ended up with the Association.

Imagine IF has a board of trustees that decides how library funds are spent, including tax dollars approved by the county commissioners and money raised by the Imagine IF Library Foundation and the Friends of the Library.

Capital funds

In 2013, according to Flathead County finance director Sandra Carlson, the county commissioners earmarked $2 million for the fiscal year 2017 capital improvement plan for a new library to be located at Glacier Discovery Square, a former bank building in uptown Columbia Falls.

When that deal fell apart and the First Best Place group that promoted it disbanded, the commissioners removed the project from the plan, along with $1.9 million of the funding for a future Columbia Falls library project. The remaining $100,000 went into a Library Depreciation Reserve Fund.

Imagine IF Library director Kim Crowley then requested that the $100,000 be used in the fiscal year 2013 capital improvement plan to replace “ancient and dangerous” shelving at the Columbia Falls library. That project never took place, however, and the money has sat in the library’s reserve fund since then.

The Imagine IF staff, board of trustees and Foundation believe improvements are needed at the Columbia Falls library, which is located in the City Hall building, where it benefits from free utilities and maintenance by the city. Besides the “ancient and dangerous” shelving were concerns about air conditioning and space — children attending Storytime in the nearby city council chambers.

A $127,377 remodeling plan emerged for the current library that included shelving, furniture, carpeting, cabinets and painting. But when Imagine IF requested the full amount from the Association, they were turned down.

Imagine IF next requested about $20,000 from the Association to pay for air conditioning. City manager Susan Nicosia confirmed that the Association contacted the city and learned that while the western half of City Hall had been remodeled and was air conditioned, there were no immediate plans to air condition the eastern half, which includes the library. So the Association declined this second request from Imagine IF.

A revised remodeling budget then emerged which requested $62,377 from the Association. According to Carla Fisher, a Columbia Falls resident and the Imagine IF Foundation president, that was the amount the Association had agreed to provide for furnishings if a new library was built at Glacier Discovery Square.

Lack of trust

The Association’s members have a deep-seated mistrust of Imagine IF that has as much to do with library philosophy — especially the declining number of books — as it does with money. They wanted to know why the $100,000 in the library reserve fund couldn’t be used to pay for the remodeling.

Carlson’s explanation that any money that ends up in the reserve fund can be used for any project the Imagine IF board of trustees wants didn’t satisfy the Association. If the money was earmarked for “ancient and dangerous” shelving, then it’s a safety issue that should be dealt with, they said.

“We never got an answer,” Association treasurer Jan Schultz said. “Our issue is accountability. We need to know where the money is going.”

The Association members are not entirely against the remodeling project — they say it needs some “tweaking” and were told the smaller shelving in the plan will “just accommodate” what books the branch library currently has.

They also note that they’ve contributed money to the branch library over the years, including running down to Wal-Mart to get a new boombox for Storytime or a cordless vacuum. Library policy no longer allows for those kinds of donations.

“We’ve lost our connection with our library,” Schultz said.

The Foundation has similar concerns about the Association, Fisher said. The Association needs to do a better job of tracking what it spends its money on, she said. The bookstore is “wonderful,” she said, but she was concerned the Association was organized to help the library but focused too much on the bookstore.

Samantha Travis, a Columbia Falls resident and attorney whose children attend Storytime, said she has concerns the Association’s money might not be spent on the branch library. She said the Association has a fiduciary duty to help the branch library, especially in light of the money left by Binsfeld.

The Association meets off and on through the year but tries to meet on the fourth Monday of each month. On Feb. 13, Fisher e-mailed the Association telling them she wanted to make a presentation and asked for a special meeting. While she didn’t specify what the presentation would be about, she cited the two times the Association had denied an Imagine IF request and said whatever came up could be tabled for a later meeting.

With lingering concerns about what happened to the $100,000 in the reserve fund, the Association denied Fisher’s request for a special meeting and took steps to protect its money by changing its bylaws, which basically allowed anyone who showed up at a meeting a chance to vote. The six regular members met on Feb. 28 and amended their bylaws to define a member as someone “who actively and consistently participates in the activities and operations” of the Association.

Imagine If staff and supporters knew about the bylaws (but not the Feb. 28 meeting), and Fisher said she invited about 10 community members she knew to attend the Association’s March 24 meeting, where she planned to make her presentation on the new remodeling budget. By policy, Imagine IF staff and board members don’t vote at Association meetings, and Fisher said it was her own personal philosophy not to vote at Association meetings.

The meeting

The frankness of each side’s statements about what happened leading up to and during the March 24 meeting shows just how sure each side is that they are the ones who represent the community’s interest.

“It was a very hostile and intense meeting,” recalled Jenny Lovering, a Columbia Falls high school teacher and city councilor. “It was the most uncomfortable meeting I’ve ever attended.”

After about an hour of loud, angry discussion, a motion was made and seconded to approve using $62,377 of the Association’s money for the Imagine IF remodeling plan. Despite requests by Association members that the motion be tabled, the vote was cast — 11 to 6 in favor.

Travis wrote down the names of those who voted.

“She plunked it down on the table and said, ‘There you go,’” Association vice president Holly Anderson said. “They sounded coached, like they had been whipped into a frenzy ahead of time in the parking lot.”

“I said, ‘No, no, you can’t do this,’” Association president Bob Webb said after he couldn’t get the motion tabled.

“There was so much hostility by that point I couldn’t suggest tabling,” Fisher recalled.

According to Anderson, when the regular members pointed out the bylaw change and said the visitors couldn’t vote, Travis replied that the Association hadn’t notify its members of the Feb. 28 meeting.

“’But we don’t know who you are,’” Association secretary Carmen Wyman recalled saying.

Three of those who voted in favor, however, Eric Lovering, Alia Hanson and Erin Quintia, had attended an Association meeting in November, were on the Association’s e-mail list and considered themselves Association members, but they were never notified of the Feb. 28 meeting.

Wyman said she didn’t consider them members, just interested community members like others on the e-mail list. Schultz said they didn’t notify anyone else about the Feb. 28 meeting because “we knew about the vulnerability of open membership.”

Travis described the “significant hostility” leading up to the vote. She also said the “secret meeting” to change the bylaws was a direct attempt to exclude Fisher and prevent the funding request from going to a vote.

Anderson described the funding vote as “shocking” and a “hostile takeover.”

“Why would the Foundation raid a podunk little organization like us?” Schultz asked.

The aftermath

As it stands, someone from the Association will need to sign the $62,377 check for the remodeling. The six regular members plan to meet again April 28 to discuss their options and do their due diligence. Their financial adviser has suggested they provide Imagine IF small amounts at a time as the remodeling progresses, but Crowley disapproves of that plan, concerned that Imagine IF could be on the hook if the Association declined to pay up when a bill comes in.

Fisher said she hopes the Association discusses the situation and does the right thing. She said she’s concerned that if the Association doesn’t come up with the money, the community might demand an investigation that could expand to other “possibly inappropriate actions” — such as providing scholarships and buying lunches for city employees.

The Association members have concerns but are not ready to concede their position.

“Who would sue us?” Schultz asked. “It would be bad publicity.”