Source: Kathleen Helsabeck is still with the library; issue could be resolved by next month s QPL Board of Trustees meeting
Quincy Although the books are in black and white, the trustees’ meeting on Tuesday night did not make plain the personnel difficulties with the Quincy Public Library’s leadership.
A motion to put Helsabeck on unpaid administrative leave was approved by a majority. Megan Duestherhaus, the board’s secretary and treasurer, abstained from the meeting, and board member Dr. Harry Ruth did not show up. Tony Crane, a new member, did not participate either.
According to Jessica Givens, the Executive Director’s library assistant, Crane takes Cheryl Predmore’s place, MRN said.
At a special board meeting on July 19, the majority of the board then supported a second move to raise Interim Director Natascha Will’s pay to the executive director’s compensation at the time of Will’s appointment.
At the conference, nobody would provide MRN with the precise number in dollars.
For reasons the board did not reveal, Helsabeck was put on leave in July.Supporters who stood up for her during a special meeting conjectured that it might have been partly related to the deselection process or materials that are taken out of the library’s collection, as reported by MRN.
“It’s an eight-year itch where good people find themselves moving in different directions,” said Quincy Mayor Linda Moore.
Helsabeck informed the board earlier this summer that she had retrieved about 1,300 artifacts to add back to the library’s collection, according to meeting minutes that are accessible online. This came after the board members talked about how the shelves looked empty.
Library authorities answered that the request was too much for the staff to handle when MRN filed a FOIA request to find out which books had been removed. MRN is submitting an appeal to the Illinois Attorney General’s office about their response.
During Tuesday night’s regular agenda, board members once again raised the problem of filling the vacant shelves in the library’s history section.
All leadership-related conversations took place in private during Executive Session.
The technology department was sincerely assessing the state of a recent huge book donation to assist fill the shelves, according to Will, who recently celebrated earning her Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree.
The board also reviewed a number of letters, ranging from compliments on a job well done to complaints about eating and drinking in the library to a $1,000 donation.
The Illinois Room and the vicinity of computer rooms are the only areas where QPL prohibits food and open drinking containers.
Will clarified that food and drinks are permitted elsewhere in the library because it also functions as a warming and cooling facility.
A very successful book sale in July was reported by the Friends of the Library Group. $2,200 in sales over three days, with an extra $900 in sales at the library bookshop, for a total of $4,800. They are now preparing for the October 23–25 fall book sale. Additionally, there will be a February collectible book sale with items worth at over $3 each.
“QPL is ahead of the curve in meeting a new state mandate to have opioid antagonists, like Narcan, on site to combat overdoses, along with training so that at least one staffer on shift knows how to administer it,” the interim director’s report also said.
Will also noted that while teen participation is still occurring at the library, it is not as strong as that of the other two demographics. Adult and kid engagement, on the other hand, is still on the rise.
Following approval, the meeting minutes are made available to the public on the QPL website.
