By Igor Studenkov
For the Bugle
Eight months after the Niles Public Library Board of Trustees decided to keep the proceeds from the ongoing book sale without consulting the Friends of the Niles Library, the trustees are looking to mend the rifts – or at least find some common ground.
The book sale was originally organized by the Friends of the Library, but over the last few decades, the library staff gradually wound up running every aspect of it. But the proceeds from the sale still went to the Friends, who determined how the money would be spent. The majority of the trustees argued that, with the library running the sale for all practical purposes, it made no sense to continue the arrangement, voting on Dec. 14, 2016 to keep the proceeds without consulting the Friends first.
During the Aug. 16 meeting, the trustees decided to start healing the rift. Even if not all of them were sure that the Friends still had a purpose, the clear consensus was that there needed to be more communication between the two organizations. They invited the Friends president to attend the Sept. 20 meeting to have a discussion about the organization’s purpose.
During the Dec. 14 meeting, Library Director Susan Lempke said that the Friends did a lot of good in recent years. They funded the creation of a sculpture by the library’s main staircase, the fees for Chicago Shakespeare Project performances, as well some programs involving local schools. But she also complained that, since former Niles village trustee Chris Hanusiak became president, the organization became more stingy with funds. Lempke specifically said that they refused to pay for the retirement party for former library director Linda Weiss, refused to buy travel books and refused to put the bookshelves in the lobby.
By that point, the library collected $22,377 over the course of 2016. On Dec. 10, the Friends formally asked for those funds. Lempke herself stayed neutral, saying that she was fine either way.
The majority of the board voted keep the money, with Trustee Carolyn Drblik who serves as a liaison to Friends of the Library, casting the only ‘no’ vote.
At the time, Hanusiak, who previously served as a village trustee, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. But on Jan. 6 he e-mailed a statement to the Bugle critiquing the move.
“No member of the Library Board of Trustees nor of the numerous employees spoke to any of the Friends board members,” he wrote. “Citizens should be aware that the Friends is a private non-profit group not under the control to the Library Trustees nor accountable to them.”
Hanusiak wrote that the Friends felt that spending $5,000 on Weiss’ retirement party was “inappropriate.” Noting that, at the time, there was controversy over Niles Sister Cities funding international travel for Niles elected officials, he wrote that the group decided to err on the side of caution.
“The Friends did not want to be under suspicion for being a pot-of-gold fund to be used for the entertainment and amusement of Trustees and staff members,” Hanusiak wrote.
During the Aug. 16 meeting, the trustees reviewed Friends of the Library’s constitution. Lempke argued that the library’s approach toward the non-profit organization reflects its purpose as described in the document’s Article II – to represent the interests of the library and the community, encourage and support measures that would benefit them, focus public attention on the library’s resources and services, encourage gifts to the library and generally promoting the library’s usefulness.
Board president Karen Dimond wondered if Friends of the Library still serve a useful purpose.
“Friends has been a long-standing organization,” she said “I wonder if they do something the library doesn’t do.”
Dimond noted that the library runs the books sale and organizes volunteers – both something that the Friends were originally responsible for.
Meanwhile, Drblik urged fellow trustees to reach out to the Friends.
“Could we introduce some dialog, so there wouldn’t be such a contentious relationship here,” she said.
Board treasurer Tim Spadoni, who attended the meeting by phone, noted that, according to its constitution, presidents of the Friends of the Library are supposed to come to the board meetings to give regular reports.
It should be noted that the constitution doesn’t go as far as requiring board meeting attendance. Rather, it simply says that one of the duties of Friends’ president is to “serve as the primary channel of communication with the Library Administrator, staff and Library Trustees.”
Trustee Dennis Martin felt that inviting Hanusiak might be a good idea. He could talk to the board about what the Friends do that the library isn’t doing and what they see their purpose.
Trustee Patti Rozanski agreed that more communication would be useful.
“It will be nice to have a representative of our group at their group [meeting] and representative of their group at our group [meeting],” she mused.
In the end, the trustees agreed to extend the invitation to Hanusiak.