A Conflict of Interest?

 By Gretchen Garrity

 At the March 26, 2024 Christian County Library Board of Trustees meeting, the board voted, as a matter of course, to renew the Conflict of Interest policy required by the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC). (See March agenda under New Business.)

The policy states in part:

"Any employee who holds a voting interest in the Board or governing body of any other organization, association, non-for-profit, union, corporation, or government entity that conducts any business, financial or otherwise, with Christian County Library (including Recognized Library Support Organizations such as the Christian County Library Foundation and Friends of the Christian County Library) must disclose that relationship to their Supervisor and shall be disqualified from voting on or participating in any decision making, contract negotiation, or purchasing for or on behalf of Christian County Library related to that organization or entity. "

 

In a striking coincidence, a citizen, Aileena Keen, stood up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. In it, she exposes a possible conflict of interest on the part of the library's executive director, Renee Brumett, who is a current board member of MOBIUS, a library consortium that provides access to digital library materials, inter-library loans, and other resources. Watch the short video:

 

From Keen's question, it appears few, if any, members of the board were aware that Brumett is a member of the board of directors of MOBIUS. Library consortiums engage in resource sharing, thereby giving local library members a wider degree of access to materials like books and digital resources. Why would this be a conflict of interest? See the above library policy. MOBIUS is a library consortium of mainly academic libraries that the Missouri State Library is associated with. 

From: MOBIUS Consortium

 

Currently, only four Missouri public libraries, including the Christian County Library, are members of MOBIUS. The other libraries are St. Charles City-County Library, St. Louis County Library, and the Springfield-Green County Library. Additionally, Robin Westphal, the State Librarian, is an ex officio board member of MOBIUS.

In contrast, the Missouri Evergreen Consortium is "an independent association of Missouri Public Libraries. The Consortium is an outgrowth of efforts to improve resource sharing between Missouri’s public libraries." Evergreen is primarily concerned with public libraries. There are currently about 66 member libraries in Evergreen, with 11 applicant libraries pending.

From: Christian County Library

 The question has to be asked, "Does the Christian County Library's membership in MOBIUS, versus Evergreen, have anything to do with Brumett's board membership?" It may not, but the library board should have had knowledge of any potential conflicts.

Additionally, the Christian County Library received a grant from MOBIUS for $1,159.00 to send a staff member to the American Library Association's YALSA Symposium in 2023. 

Looking deeper into MOBIUS, other connections surface, such as with Overdrive. What is Overdrive? You can read about Overdrive HERE in a previous article. From that article, "As a company OverDrive is typically Woke, aligned with the ALA, and prominently promotes social justice issues on its blog and for book recommendations. The ALA’s “Right to Read” statement is promoted here and here; while Social Emotional Learning is promoted here."

Overdrive originated the Libby App which public libraries and their patrons can download to access digital materials. You can also read about it at the link, and not only can it be expensive for public libraries, but Libby allows children access to thousands of inappropriate digital materials and books.

If a parent desires only age-appropriate materials for their children on Libby, there is the eReading Room which curates materials designed for children and teens. However, it is not the parent who is able to make the final determination, but something Overdrive and libraries developed. Their understanding of age-appropriate may not be what parents feel is right for their child.

The connections with MOBIUS--including the ALA, the MLA (as an Institutional Member) and Overdrive--all point to the continued association with organizations that have progressive socialist agendas separate from our local community. Local control is not just for government schools. It's also for taxpayer-funded public libraries.

Why would our public library hold membership in a consortium of academic libraries and not one geared to public libraries? What are the respective costs associated with membership, as opposed to membership in Evergreen? When did our library join MOBIUS? What are the advantages, if any?