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Middlebury residents urge library changes and question grant reporting during Elkhart County meeting
Summary
During public comment at the June 9 meeting, two Middlebury residents raised concerns about children’s and young adult materials at the Middlebury Public Library and questioned the accuracy and oversight of grant reporting for nonprofit recipients of landfill grant money.
Two residents from Middlebury used the meeting’s public-comment period on June 9 to raise concerns: Cindy Nissley spoke about content in the Middlebury Public Library, and Pam Kaiser questioned county oversight of grant reporting for nonprofit recipients of landfill grant funds.
Cindy Nissley, of 57447 County Road 35, Middlebury, told commissioners she had used the Middlebury Library for years and was "very disappointed about all of the books that had been taken out and removed and the change in the books that were there." She said the library’s young adult section contains materials she considers inappropriate for children and cited an anime club and an "anime section" at the library. "I went to the library on Friday in hopes of getting a new refreshed feeling of our library. I went into the young adult program or section, and of course, I came across their favorite book that it's perfectly normal," Nissley said. She also described passages she called sexually explicit and passages that referenced drug and alcohol use on materials shelved for youth and said she supported a petition of 524 signatures asking for change.
Pam Kaiser, also of Middlebury, said she previously asked questions about three non-government groups that received landfill grant money and that her follow-up email seeking specific information had not been answered. Kaiser said she was told the Gateway website has a reputation for inaccuracy and asked why the State Board of Accounts had not been asked to review the spending. "Somehow, we as citizens of this county should be holding someone accountable for the spending in our county," she said, adding that if public information is inaccurate "we have a problem." The county record shows no formal response or action taken during the meeting on either speaker's concerns.
Both speakers made their remarks during the privilege of the floor/public-comment period. Commissioners did not take formal action on either item during the meeting.
