Notices
PRESS RELEASE: CARO AREA DISTRICT LIBRARY RECEIVES NATIONAL GRANT FOR SMALL AND RURAL LIBRARIES
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PUBLIC NOTICE: The October Library Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at the Caro High School, 301 N. Hooper St., Caro, MI 48723 at 5:00pm.
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PUBLIC NOTICE: The September 11, 2023 Library Board meeting and FY2024 Budget Hearing will be held at the Commons Room of the Tuscola Technology Center, 1401 Cleaver Rd, Caro, MI 48723 at 5:00pm.
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PUBLIC NOTICE: The August 14, 2023 Library Board meeting has been cancelled due to a lack of agenda items. The next scheduled meeting is September 11, 2023.
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Board Statement: Many of you have attended our board meetings or read the news about recent events at the public library. In response, we wanted to reach out to provide information on who we are and what our mission is.
Our Library Board is made up of seven elected community members. We are volunteers; we do not get paid. We are serving the public because we believe in the mission of the public library and we want to help the community.
The library board acts as the public trustee of the library. The community entrusts the library’s wellbeing to the board and expects the board to keep the library running correctly and to ensure that the best possible services are provided. Boards also have the responsibility to see that adequate funding is secured and maintained. We do not have the authority to monitor what they do outside of their role as a library board member.
The purpose of a public library is to provide information and resources to a community. Modern public libraries also serve as a community hub. The Caro Area District Library is here to serve all community members: we do not discriminate on race, gender, religion, political affiliation, ability, sexual orientation, age, or beliefs. The library has materials of differing formats and viewpoints. It is certain that there is something in the library with which you disagree. That is impossible to avoid when providing multiple perspectives on a topic. If you don’t find what you are looking for in our collection, let the staff know. They may have the ability to borrow it through interlibrary loan or consider it for purchase for the collection.
We support a patrons’ right to choose what to read or what not to read. We support a parents’ right to make choices for their minor children. We do not support a system in which a patron can dictate what Constitutionally- protected materials others have access to read because the patron disagrees with the subject matter or message of the book. Public libraries are about freedom of information and access. As a public institution, the library support and follow the liberties and protections guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The library staff and board members love helping people and love the Caro community. The library’s job every day is to help whoever walks through that door. They help little kids with literacy skills, they help people who just walked out of jail get connected to the world again, they help the elderly find resources or connection, they help teenagers find materials for school. People often show up at the library because they don’t know where to get help but they know the library will help them.
Caro Area District Library
Board of Trustees
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May 30, 2023
Statement
We understand that members of the public signed a petition requesting that the Library Board relocate three books from the children and teen section to the adult section. The petitioners ask the Library Board to address this request directly instead of following the process provided in the Challenges to Materials section (Section IX) of the Collection Development Policy. As a basis for their request, the petitioners cite to “Trustee/Library Director Relationships” policy that states the Library Board deals with petitions, suggestions, and complaints which are presented in writing by members of the public.
The same Trustee/Library Director Relationships policy provides that the Library Board adopts policies. The petitioners have been informed that the request to relocate materials should be made through the Challenge to Materials section of the Collection Development Policy because this is the process the Library Board has adopted to address petitions or complaints about Library materials and their placement. The Library Board will not address the petitioners request if made outside of the Challenge to Materials process.
Francis Silvernail
President
Board of Trustees