Nearly two months after the former North Jefferson County Library District board members vacated their seats, a new round of members is set to fill their positions.
Jefferson County Commissioner Bob Mullen told The Monitor that the library district’s sole remaining board member Beth McNamara reported filling all the open seats on June 16.
According to McNamara, four community members have been selected and “confirmed their willingness to serve as a trustee”: Bryan Stanley, Karole Lee, Chris Seitz and Christine Sampley.
“We, the Commission, will need to finish formally a couple of the new trustees, yet,” Mullen said. “Other than that, [we] hope for continued great services.”
Lee, a Clancy resident and frequent user of the North County libraries, said she applied for the library board because of her concern for the challenges library staff face. She hopes to remedy the situation.
“As a board member, I will bring expertise in practice management, bookkeeping and having previously served on a board as secretary, I am prepared to spend time at and participate in meetings and take responsibility for the legal and financial oversight of the Northern Jefferson County Public Library,” Lee said.
Mullen told The Monitor that filling the board vacancies was unique from other county boards because it operates as a special district with its own by-laws, which dictate how to fill board vacancies.
“We’ve not dealt with this situation previously and want to ensure the process is done correctly,” Mullen said, clarifying why there was confusion on how to proceed with filling the open seats.
In a May 9 commission meeting, Mullen said the situation was further complicated because “all the members kind of quit about the same time.”
However, this appears to be more coincidental and not a mass resignation, as some had speculated.
Long standing Board Chair Jane Hamman and fellow longtime board member Jim Hammill’s seats were up for re-election in May 2023. Both Hamman and Hammill chose not to throw their names in the hat and let their terms expire so they could pursue other ventures and personal matters. No one ran to fill their seats.
Lenora Rogstad, another former board member, was forced to give up her seat on the board after moving to Lewis and Clark County.
Scott Erickson was the only board member to resign. Erickson cited the board’s difficulty making decisions as a reason for leaving. Board clerk Cheryl Vukasin also resigned in April.
“I resigned because I was frustrated spending too much time debating the minutes for the previous meeting instead of dealing with any library issues or programs,” Erickson told The Monitor. He added that it was difficult for the library to retain staff members.
The sole remaining member from the previous board is Beth McNamara. McNamara has not responded to multiple email requests for comment regarding the situation.
Carly Delsigne, the North County library director, chose not to comment on the board’s situation.
The library’s staff problems have also impacted the annual summer reading program, which started on June 6. Delsigne told The Monitor that there wasn’t enough staff to do a summer reading program kick-off event as has been done in the past.
