A Metro East public library board embroiled in culture war-like issues for the past two years has a vacancy and an upcoming election that could change its ideological makeup.
Currently, the library board in Collinsville and Fairmont City has a 3-3 ideological split after a seventh board member from the conservative wing of the officially nonpartisan board resigned in early November. The remaining Mississippi Valley Library District board members have 90 days to pick a replacement or the Illinois State Library will appoint a successor.
The new trustee could swing the board toward either side of the ideological aisle — but only for a couple of months because election season, when three seats will be on the ballot, is quickly approaching.
“I don't really see that it's going to make a whole big difference because it's going to be filled by whoever the voters decide on in April,” said board President Jeanne Lomax. “It's a really small window.”
The library board swung conservative in the 2023 elections after a drag queen story hour in 2022 enraged some community members.
Since then, the board has quarreled over annual tax levies, how to fix an elevator and what books should be allowed on shelves — though no books have been banned, according to the library’s executive director, Kyla Waltermire.
The library, which serves roughly a population of 34,000 people, has regularly drawn crowds to its board meetings and intense public comment over the past two years.
“[It] sometimes makes my stomach hurt to listen to how upset people are at these meetings for the way that they feel things are being treated or done,” said Cathy Kulupka, a trustee since 2018 who is part of the board’s more liberal wing.
Filling the vacancy
Lisa McCormick resigned on Nov. 4, according to a letter provided by the library board. Trustees accepted her resignation at a Nov. 18 meeting.
At that gathering, the board planned to discuss applicants for the vacancy at the meeting on Tuesday. However, that item was removed from the agenda because Lomax is traveling and will miss the meeting.
“I don't want us to be able to vote on something if I'm not there — especially something like a replacement to the board,” she said.
Lomax said a representative of the Illinois State Library told her the 90-day clock started when the board accepted the resignation, meaning trustees have until Feb. 16 to fill the vacancy.
Normally, the board meets on the third Monday of each month, which would be Feb. 17. Lomax said the trustees could call a special meeting to address the vacancy.
Lomax, who first ran for a board seat in 2023 after the drag queen story hour, said the election is the best avenue to fill the vacancy long term.
“It's better that the voters are able to vote on that unexpired term, rather than an appointment,” she said.
Finding a candidate four of six trustees can agree on may be a challenge for the board. While there are plenty of issues the board can agree on, Kulupka said she’s not expecting to reach a consensus.
“I don't see that happening until the election or [if] it gets to the point where the state library will have to step in,” Kulupka said.
This isn’t the first time the library has appointed a board member close to an election in recent years. In late 2022, the board appointed Michael Treece, and he lost reelection the following year.
Kulupka said she’d like to find an applicant who is good at seeing both sides of the issue and can vote on what’s best for the library, something she felt McCormick did.
“Neither of us really want somebody that's going to be contentious at every meeting,” Kulupka said. “At the same time, we want to make sure that the standards, especially for inclusivity for everyone, is being upheld.”
