Trustees amend minutes, remove sentence on book removal and approve pay for note taking after public comment

At a special-called meeting April 23, the Sumner County Library Trustees amended the March 26 minutes, removed two items from the special meeting agenda and voted to increase pay for a contract note taker after public comment and trustee requests for record corrections.

Chair Joanna Daniels opened the meeting and trustees first voted to remove agenda items E and F from the special meeting agenda at the request of a trustee; the motion to amend the agenda was moved from the floor and approved by voice vote. Trustee Shannon Bergdorf said the standards overview checklist (item E) had been requested by Commissioner Terri Boyd and asked for it to be rescheduled before the May 30 budget hearing.

Public comment included remarks from resident Patricia Smith, who thanked trustees and asked that board actions "reflect the entire community," and a brief statement from Cort Nygard, a psychologist who urged keeping the stacks open to preserve a marketplace of ideas. "I think we need to have a library which allows a diversity of ideas, and I'm strongly in favor of keeping the stacks more open and less restrictive," Nygard said.

The board spent substantial time on corrections to the March 26 minutes after Trustee Shannon Bergdorf asked that references to her absence be changed to "with notice," and that wording implying she "refused to go" to facilities meetings be stricken. Bergdorf also requested that a resolution item not identify two trustees by name, arguing that the minutes should have used the office title. After discussion, trustees moved and approved several minute amendments, including removing a sentence in section 8b that read "the board can pull these books," which trustees agreed did not reflect the discussion and could be misleading.

Trustees also approved a pay increase for the contracted note taker, Susie, expanding coverage from six to ten meetings per year and authorizing $1,000 total for the service. Trustees clarified that the line item funding the note taker is provided through the Hendersonville library budget and would be added to the current budget year and carried over if unused.

Ending: The board approved the amended minutes by voice vote and adopted the other changes; trustees said formal recruitment and other substantive policy discussions would take place at future meetings.