By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
LINCOLN PARK — Administrative changes at the Lincoln Park Public Library will likely be transparent to its users, but Mayor Thomas Karnes said the shift from Wayne County oversight will bring a number of positive improvements.
“We’ll be able to do a couple of things,” Karnes said of the independent authority. “We’ll have the library open more frequently, be able to bring in new supplies and hopefully set some aside for capital improvements and run the library the way it should be.”
The decision last year for the library to leave the Wayne County district and operate as a city-run facility took another step further last week when city officials appointed a board of directors. The panel met Monday and confirmed a five-member board with Maria McCarville,
chairwoman; Shari Nemchek, vice chairwoman; Tracy Bush, secretary treasurer; and panelists Jean Carnahan and Charmaine Clancy.
Karnes said the appointments and the board’s first meeting tomorrow address housekeeping issues including length of terms — one- or two-year seats — guidelines and policies. The panel will have “exclusive control” of library expenditures and moneys collected, construction of buildings and supervision and care of the buildings and grounds under revised Chapter 275 of city ordinances.
Next on the priority list for the board will be hiring staff including library director, a position currently held by Filomena Sgambati. Under the previous oversight the director was a county employee, and the position will now be a city post hired by the board.
Karnes said more than a dozen applicants have submitted their names for consideration.
“There’s definitely interest out there,” Karnes said. “The library is important to the citizens, and that’s what we’re trying to keep.”
Making the library independent of the county oversight was both a cost-saving strategy and a preventative measure should the city finances be placed under state control through emergency management or consent resolution. That authority allowed city officials to levy up to 1 mill without requiring a vote.
The current operating funds of 0.35 mills expires June 30. The local authority allows the city to levy up to 1 mill for the library.
The panel soon will make its recommendation to City Council for the amount to be levied.
“The millages we had were always approved,” Karnes said. “My position is that people want to support the library. For a little more than (the current mill rate) we can have more employees than we had before, and bring in fresh materials. That was the main goal.”
Although library staff who had been county employees were paid by that authority, Karnes said that in turn Wayne County charged the city fees for administrative and human resources costs.
“Wayne was paying the bills, but we were paying them to manage that,” Karnes said.
A local library can be as integral to a community as public safety and city hall, and Karnes said that in spite of online availability for some of what a library offers, there’s more to the facility than just books and periodicals.
“A lot of people don’t have access to computers,” Karnes said. “If you can’t afford one, the only place you’ll have that access is at the library. Where would you get tax forms if not at the library?”
Along with expanded hours and staff, Karnes said the library will continueand enhance its reading programs, summer activities and other offerings.
The independent route — although patrons will still be able to access materials from other libraries through participation in The Library Network — will help ensure that the city library remains one of the foundations of a community.
“It’s a positive thing for the city,” Karnes said. “Otherwise, if it kept going the way it was, we weren’t going to be able to fund it.”
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)