Library director questioned over about $5,000 in city purchases shipped to her home

A Morris City council continuation hearing on June 24 recessed into testimony about library purchasing practices as the council pressed the library director to explain hundreds of purchases charged to the city and shipped to her home.

The director, identified in the record as Miss Barbara, testified under oath that about 280 books, DVDs and other items purchased on the city credit card were shipped to her residence between Dec. 18, 2019 and Dec. 13, 2024, totaling $4,997.72. Attorney Susan Hansen, who conducted the questioning, pointed to a city directive dated Oct. 2, 2023 that instructed purchases made with the library credit card be delivered to the library rather than to employees’ homes. The director acknowledged she received that directive but said she ordered eight items after the date and confirmed, "No, I ordered eight items after that." (Miss Barbara.)

Hansen focused on three central concerns: whether home shipping was a legitimate "preview" practice, how many purchased items were actually entered in the public catalog, and whether tax-exempt status or the city card was used for personal purchases. The director said she shipped items to preview or review them for patrons (for example, to determine whether a title would suit a particular local reading group) and to learn how other libraries catalog similar titles. She told the council those previewed materials were meant to be returned to the library.

On cataloging, counsel cited Exhibit 10 and the investigator's report showing roughly 67 titles were not found in the library catalog. The director said she later located some of those titles herself — at various points giving the council a list and saying she found 18 of the 67 at her house and delivered them to the cataloger, Meredith. The director described a "special place" (a basket at her entryway) and other locations throughout her home where items were kept temporarily before she returned them to staff for cataloging. She acknowledged that while some materials were returned, others had sat in storage for months and in some cases "probably a couple years" before being cataloged and made available to patrons.

Counsel also reviewed digital and subscription purchases. The council highlighted multiple Prime Video streaming charges and other streaming rentals that occurred on dates when the library was closed; the director confirmed the streaming purchases shown in the investigation file. On equipment, the director confirmed a March 14, 2022 purchase of Apple AirPods (second generation) charged to the city card, saying she used them in her work for activities such as Zoom meetings and demonstrations; she also said she does not permit patrons to place shared earphones in their ears for hygiene reasons.

Hansen further presented a spreadsheet of personal purchases that, according to Exhibit 10, did not include sales tax because a tax-exempt status was applied. The exhibit lists $2,232.83 of personal purchases between March 13, 2022 and Jan. 8, 2025 for which sales tax was not paid. The director said she had both a personal Amazon account and a library account on the same Amazon login and that tax-exempt or library payment options were sometimes auto-applied; she told the council she did not deliberately use the exemption box for personal purchases.

The director said she noticed three Audible charges she believed were fraudulent (Oct.–Dec. 2024) and reported them on Feb. 26, 2025 after a conversation with the library board chair raised concerns about charges to the city. Hansen contrasted the February reporting date with the earlier charge dates and with the board's inquiry. The director also said that, when the city manager asked for Amazon passwords, she provided written passwords and did not request prior attorney authorization to do so.

The hearing combined documentary cross-checks — investigator notes, Exhibit 10 purchase lines, and the director's interview transcript — with on-the-record testimony. Counsel repeatedly contrasted the investigator's inability to find specified titles on catalog shelves, in the office, or in storage with the director's statement that she subsequently located items in her house and delivered them to the cataloger. The hearing paused late in the session so counsel could copy a list the director said she had prepared of the items she recovered.

No formal vote or disciplinary action was recorded on the transcript during this session; the council’s questioning continued and the record shows the hearing reconvened for further matters after a short recess to distribute copies of the director’s list.

Why it matters: The council's inquiry touches on public-accountability issues — the use of a municipal credit card, whether tax-exempt status was properly applied, whether municipal property purchased with public funds was made available to the public, and timeliness of reporting suspected fraudulent charges. The council and investigators may use the answers and the evidence in the file to determine next steps.

The hearing was recessed so copies of the director's list could be made and distributed to council members and staff.