Kalamazoo Public Library Board of Trustees Calls Special Meeting with Only 24 Hours Public Notice
This morning, Kalamazoo Public Library patrons are finding the above "NOTICE of Public Meeting" on the library district's homepage. The notice states that a special meeting of the Board of Trustees will be held tomorrow (Saturday, June 24) morning at 9:00 at Central branch, one hour before the library opens for regular service. According to the agenda, the purpose of this meeting is "BOARD RETREAT: Board development led by Dr. Karika Parker, The Onyx Consulting Group". This is the same consultant that the Kalamazoo Public Schools Board of Trustees has been using for the past six months. KPL Trustee Linda S. Mah is a Communications Specialist for Kalamazoo Public Schools. As with any other meeting of the library board, there will be a public comment opportunity prior to the retreat portion of the agenda.
As of this writing, no notice of special meeting has been posted within Central library, as required "at least 18 hours before the meeting" by the Michigan Open Meetings Act. On the library's Facebook and Instagram accounts, notice was not provided until 10:09 a.m. today. No notice has been provided on the library's Twitter account. If no printed notice is physically posted within the library prior to 3 p.m. today, the board's meeting tomorrow will be in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
Since September 2022, the Kalamazoo Public Library Board of Trustees has held 16 special meetings, in addition to 8 regular meetings. In addition to Saturday's special meeting, there's a regular meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 27 (two printed public notices of this meeting incorrectly state Wednesday) and an unannounced special meeting the next day on Wednesday, June 28. When Jeff Messer ran last November for a seat on the Kalamazoo Public Library Board of Trustees, one of his campaign issues was "fewer closed sessions and special meetings of library board".
In other library news, Yootech wireless charging pads were installed this morning at all computer workstations in Central library's second floor rotunda. They look similar to models RC400 and F500. Jarrod Wilson, the library district's head of Technology Services, has been talking about installing wireless charging pads since at least April 2022. These pads partially make up for the April 3, 2023 removal of a dozen charging lockers. New charging lockers were ordered during spring 2022. However, they were installed in the Teen Room, unavailable to anyone who is not in secondary school between grades 6 and 12. The new charging lockers, pictured above on May 19, 2023, have 16 charging bays, a surveillance camera, and ultraviolet light sanitation of devices.
Technology Services staff says they are currently working on eliminating the 5¢ per page fee for black-and-white printing and copying. The fee has already been reduced from 10¢.
UPDATE: As of 3:03 p.m. today, the Kalamazoo Public Library has failed to post notice of "a special meeting of a public body, a public notice stating the date, time, and place of the meeting shall be posted at least 18 hours before the meeting in a prominent and conspicuous place" tomorrow's 9 a.m. special Board of Trustees meeting, as required by the Michigan Open Meetings Act. Therefore, if they meet tomorrow morning, it will be in violation of Michigan Compiled Law sections 15.264 and 15.265. The penalties for violating this act are as follows: