Opponents of a potential sale of a downtown Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County facility piled into the library board’s meeting today, continuing to press the library on what they say is a lack of public engagement around plans for the library’s downtown north building.
At today's meeting, Public Library Board Secretary William Moran sought to reassure opponents of plans to decommission and perhaps sell the north building, saying the library didn’t have any “hidden agendas” in the facilities plan they’ve been mulling for over a year.
Opposition to the sale at a time when downtown is increasing in popularity “resonated” with Moran, he said at the meeting. He also said that while he can’t promise the library won’t sell the $40 million facility it constructed in 1997, he did pledge that the library wouldn’t let it go for the “ridiculous” $3.9 million or $8.5 million price points at which the building has recently appraised.
Moran also said the library was reaching out to donors and researching a potential levy ask that could help it fund a centralized processing center, looming facility needs and work to make all of its branch locations handicap accessible.
“All these asks are in process, and that’s the reason we can’t make the promise you’re looking for today,” he told meeting attendees. “There are no secret deals. We’ve received no offers for the property. There’s no timetable to complete our studies, except to determine when and how much to put a levy on the ballot. This decision needs to be made by next summer.”
Saying the board was “dissatisfied” with a public meeting held earlier this month, Moran announced that the library would hold another such meeting Dec. 27 at 6 p.m. at the downtown location. Moran himself will facilitate that input session, instead of a third-party facilitator who ran the last meeting in a manner many public commenters objected to.The board also has another meeting scheduled Dec. 29.
During the board’s meeting, library Director Kim Fender also moved to change the time of future board meetings to 4:30 p.m. from 9:15 a.m. Newly appointed trustee Karen Clemons, an educator, can’t easily make the 9:15 time, Fender said. The board approved that change.
The weekday morning time for the board meetings has been a point of consistent criticism among opponents of the potential building sale, who say that many can’t make it to the board’s public meetings during work hours.
Background: Controversy over the library's potential sale of its downtown north building.
A number of speakers signed up to decry the library’s potential sale of the property, including representatives from the Our Library, Our Decision coalition, which has been pushing back against the sale idea for months.
"The public is very engaged in this institution," Vince Tafolla of the library activist group said. "We need a levy to support this institution. The public will support you, but not if you treat us with such contempt."
Some new faces also showed up to the meeting, imploring the library to find other ways to raise money and pointing out that vulnerable residents, including those experiencing homelessness, use the downtown library to get out of the cold in the winter.
“I’m just curious why you don’t have the same outreach to the neighborhood that you have at other branches,” Bryan Frank, a Mount Adams resident, said. “I’m opposed to the sale of the north building. I think it would be a tragedy to lose that public space. In the 1990s, you tore down all those historic buildings. It was a travesty, but we knew the greater good would be to expand the presence of the library."
"Now you want to give that all away to a developer like 3CDC, which has no accountability to the community," Frank said.
Frank was one of several speakers who called for library director Kim Fender to resign.
Among those speaking at the board meeting and a subsequent news conference were two former employees of the library who say they were fired last week under unfair circumstances.
Jami Thompson, a four-year library veteran who moved from Chicago for her job, says she was dismissed Dec. 8, a week after an incident in which she asked a group of men in business attire if they needed assistance as they walked around the library’s teen center where Thompson worked.
After a few questions, Thompson told press after the board meeting today, it turned out that the men were representatives from the Cincinnati City Center Development Corporation (3CDC) touring the facility. 3CDC has a contract with the library to help the organization explore the potential sale of the north building and is due to report on its efforts next month.
“Oh, 3CDC,” Thompson says she replied when the men told her who they worked for. She says she then turned on her heels and went about her business. A week later, she says, she was fired for being rude to the visitors.
Thompson's file recounts an incident similar to the one she mentioned at the board meeting, but criticizes the tone she used during that interaction.
Court Motley says they were dismissed from the library due to a physical condition that keeps them from standing for long periods of time. Motley says she presented a doctor's note about that condition. Records show library officials disputing Motley's assertions that they were fired for their condition and pointing out Motley was still on a 90 day new hire probationary period.
A library spokesman says the library doesn't comment on personnel matters. CityBeat filed a public records request for the personnel files of the two former employees. This story was updated Dec. 13..
“I want to be clear. I’m not trying to get my job back,” Thompson said during the news conference. “I’m concerned about the complete lack of transparency with the plans for the north building and what it will mean for TeenSpot, which means so much to me and the teens who use the space.”