Samuels Library Officials Respond to Supervisor Assertions about Finances and Operational Accountability

An interested crowd of what appeared to largely be Samuels Public Library supporters watched the specially called Warren County Board of Supervisors work session of Tuesday evening, October 29. What they witnessed in part was essentially a clash of contrasting views of reality regarding the supervisors actions and words regarding last year’s clash over library content regarding LGBTQ+ referenced material offered in Children’s sections of the library, and a resultant delay in County approval of full Library funding for Fiscal Year 2023/24.

That clash of perspectives came as County Finance Sub-Committee member and North River District Supervisor Richard Jamieson, moderating the discussion, reached work session agenda Bullet Point 4 — “Lessons Learned from FY 24 MOA Negotiations”. Jamieson read the longest Bullet Point, with its three sub-points, in it’s entirety, appearing to reflect a board majority opinion:

How will a county board majority react to the Samuels Library unified Trustees’ response to its questions about processes and operational decision-making authority moving forward? Time will tell. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

“In 2023 there was a prevalent narrative that the public library may be closed. Yet the Board of Supervisors had never indicated that possibility, nor was funding ever withheld in a current operating period.

▪ “Discuss why Samuels did not act proactively to promote a calming reassurance to the public that library services would not be interrupted, because in a worst case scenario of protracted contract negotiations it had a $1 million fund it could use as a buffer.

▪ “Discuss the role Samuels had in the library closing narrative, with the public relations firm it retained and in coordination with other groups and media that furthered and promoted the library closing narrative.

▪ “Discuss the reasons behind the decision to reject MOA proposals by the Board of Supervisors, and the reasons behind the terms proposed by Samuels in its own separate proposal.”

Jamieson called the Library Closing Narrative “very harmful to everybody in the county, on both sides” and cited his estimate of the number of citizens directly involved in supporting or attacking Samuels Library in 2023 over its stocking of LGBTQ+ referenced material for adolescents approaching puberty who may have sexual identity issues of their own, as a distinct minority of a county population of around 40,000.

“And I think that a very small, in terms of the 40,000 people in the county, maybe, take a generous number, 250 on each side or 500 on each side,” Jamieson said with a somewhat generous estimate of equal numbers to the anti-library contingent, continuing, “Still, the activist people coming to the meetings and having an opinion this way or an opinion that way, many, many people heard, ‘The Library might be closed?!?’ ” Jamieson said of what he called an “unnecessary” alarm generated throughout the community.

It wasn’t a packed house, but a fair amount of citizens showed up to hear County questions and Library responses on a mutually acceptable path forward for the County and its reigning Virginia Library of the Year and award winning staff.

But his blame for the spreading of what he considers a false narrative goes beyond the Samuels Library staff and board of trustees, as indicated in Bullet Point 4’s second sub-bullet point: “Discuss the role Samuels had in the library closing narrative, with the public relations firm it retained and in coordination with other groups and media that furthered and promoted the library closing narrative.”

Jamieson expanded on this in opening this phase of the work session discussion: “I feel that the media fanned this. I know that Samuels retained a public relations firm to help them through this period … I also note that other groups, Friends of Samuels, Save Samuels, were all working for this closing narrative.”

And while this reporter is surely considered one of the media outlets he blames for spreading what he asserts was a false narrative on the County’s intent in conditionally withholding a three-quarters (3/4) portion of the Library’s FY-24 funding in June of 2023, as the July 1 start of the new fiscal year loomed, it wasn’t only local media outlets sharing that perception of the County poised to follow through on a potential defunding of the library after the first quarter of FY-24, as the below passage from an Associated Press story by Matthew Barakat, updated September 12, 2023, illustrates:

“What sets the Samuels library apart is the very real threat that it will have to close down entirely because of the dispute. The county’s Board of Supervisors voted in June to withhold 75% of its appropriation to the library unless the library board revises its bylaws to give the county more of a say in its governance,” the AP’s Barakat reported.

Jamieson continues around the 1:18:00 County video mark to question Samuels representatives on their role in continuing a narrative indicating a belief the supervisors were poised to force a library closing through defunding after the first quarter of FY-24 had passed unless the library surrendered at least a portion of its operational authority. “I’d like to understand, I’d like to know your perspective as to whether that is something that is something still in the cards or would you call this a not-bring-up closing the library because you can’t be public servants, this is something that should never be speculated upon.”

“It should never happen, I agree with you,” Samuels Library Board of Trustees President Melody Hotek replied, referencing the June 2023 board action in explanation of what had transpired and how it was perceived on the library side:

“There was a 4-1 vote publicly to withhold funding in June (2023). And the library had no reassurances and no communications from any board members that, that would change and that we would receive funding again, ever, as of October, the next quarter. This is not our choice, it came out of left-field. There was no reason for it. And it’s regrettable because despite our desire to sit down and have negotiations with the board (of supervisors), we never actually did this, we never sat down and had negotiations. It ended up being back and forth, you’re right about that, through lawyers. And that’s regrettable. We hoped for a better working relationship between our two boards. We think that a more respectful approach would have been to have your reassurance that, that funding would continue,” Hotek, who handled a bulk of what she termed a consensus Library Trustees/staff perspective on the meeting discussion outline, said.

“But the reality is that if we didn’t have funding as of October 1st we would have had no choice but to close the doors,” Hotek said of the library perspective. Here Jamieson again referenced the library’s million-dollar Endowment Fund. However, Hotek observed, “Using the million dollars would have only provided operations for one year, making it an unsustainable approach.”

She continued to explain, “The point of an Endowment Fund is to grow the principal until such time as the interest can be used for projects. The fund is not at this point. The fund currently exists in case of extreme emergency and would have been needed to make future plans and/or keep employees whole while they looked for other jobs.” She also noted that the Library Endowment Fund was “built over time” through a combination of “donations, grants, and bequests in support of the library’s “long-term stability”. It is not funded by County tax revenue, she pointed out.

Hotek also disputed Jamieson’s citing of county taxpayers funding 88% of “all library costs” between 2007 and 2023. She countered that between 2007 and 2023 taxpayers have funded an average of 69% “of all the library’s actual expenses as reported in the annual audit.” The library Board of Trustee president also pointed out that, “The library’s current County-supported budget of $1,024,000 amounts to only 1.05% of the County’s 2025 General Fund of $97,350,000, or 1 cent on the dollar.”

As to the handling of public relations during this period of contention and the cost of acquiring such assistance, Hotek said, “We did engage a media firm because we were in uncharted waters. We’d never been in that position before. Suddenly we had local, state, national, and international news people calling us. And the board (of Trustees) as good stewards of the organization, were advised to seek professional assistance.

“Other groups in and around the County voiced their concerns and opinions and/or took actions independently. The library responded to FOIA requests as is our legal obligation,” the Board of Trustees president observed of any perceived collusion on board’s part in manipulating the dialogue surrounding the multi-pointed controversies emersing the library last year.

The final bullet point number 5’s topic of Discussion echoed library personnel’s concerns from last year’s temporary funding and operational control impasse. Under the header “Possible Changes to Samuels Structure” it read:

“Discuss thoughts about the possibility of creating a separate Samuels entity to oversee private contributory funds and an endowment in support of the public library, while separating the operations entity. This would be consistent with the normal manner in which private trusts and endowments interact with public libraries very successfully.”

The Samuels Library Board of Trustees united response conveyed by its president observed: “Samuels Library is not a department of the Warren County government. Libraries that ARE often do create not-for-profit foundations to manage their private funds as a separate entity. And as a charitable entity those Foundation boards are selected by the Foundation leaders, not their County’s BOS.

“As a not-for-profit, Samuels Public Library does not require this business model and to do so would add yet another layer of complexity. The Samuels BOT (Board Of Trustees) has a system of checks and balances in place with bi-monthly meetings to review finances, a Finance Committee, advice and oversight by a local financial consultant, and an extensive annual audit by a large regional accounting firm, Yount, Hyde & Barbour,” the library response to the suggested structutal changes observes, adding some detail on annual advisor and audit reports, which are open to the public and to which the county’s elected officials were invited to attend.

In “Summary” the Virginia Library of the Year Board of Trustees observes: “We have shared our performance statistics and financial reports, which demonstrate that we have consistently delivered award-winning services efficiently  and professionally, saving Warren County taxpayers money, despite flat funding.

“We offer specialized expertise, established community relationships, and a proven ability to deliever high-quality library services efficiently,” concluding hopefully:

Another perspective on the citizen gallery as the work session opening loomed. From left at Library tables in front of gallery seating are Trustee Vice President Michael Whitlow, Secretary Madeline Hickman, Treasurer Michelle Leasure, and at 2nd table President Melody Hotek, Library Director Erin Rooney, and At Large member Lewis Moten. Below, three Library awards displayed as Samuels Trustees and staff prepared to respond to the submitted work session “Discussion Outline”.

“We’re committed to working collaboratively with the BOS to ensure the library continues to meet the needs of Warren County. We welcome feedback and are always looking for ways to improve our services and strengthen our relationship with the County and our patrons.”

Now we guess time will tell as the next fiscal year cycle approaches if Warren County’s elected decision-making officials, or at least a majority of them, can commit to the existing organizational structure of what has been named Virginia’s Library of the Year, along with recognitions of several individuals for their contributions to that existing operational organization.

See the full discussion on all outline topics in the County video below, including about 36 minutes into the meeting, of Supervisor Jamieson’s questions about a 2008 long-term leasing agreement by the library on the past library building on Villa Avenue to the County for free for 20 years. In 2011 that lease was altererd to what amounted to a $550,000 purchase by the County for the building from the library. — “Why, it was free to 2028,” Jamieson asked of what he described as “an unbelievable fiduciary failure” and even potential “fiduciary malfeasance” by involved county officials decision to purchase something they had been granted free use of for 20 years, apparently in return for the dollar a year Library lease on the County’s building for 30 years.

“So, are you saying you want our endowment,” Jamieson was asked by confused library officials. “No,” he replied after venting on what he considered a remarkably ill-conceived County offer accepted by the library board at the time, a board he noted was comprised of different members than the current Trustees.

Click here to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Work Session of October 29, 2024.