The library board in Collinsville and Fairmont City that’s been mired in contentious meetings for the past two years will stay under a conservative majority for another two.
In the officially nonpartisan election, the more conservative candidates won two out of three contested races for the Mississippi Valley Library District board of trustees. Tuesday’s victory for those two candidates will likely give their caucus a 4-3 majority over the next two years.
Incumbent Kathy Murphy beat Shannon Lawton-O’Boyle for a two-year term. Kelly Balaco-Reeder and Ian Ashcraft won full six-year terms over Kenneth Norsworthy and Benjamin Wells, according to unofficial results from the clerks in both Madison and St. Clair counties. Murphy and Balaco-Reeder were part of a conservative-leaning slate.
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Murphy said she ran a common sense campaign that didn’t promote any social or political agenda.
“I guess they also like the direction that the library has been going with the funding and somewhat more of a balance,” Murphy said.
The library district, which serves a population of roughly 34,000 in the Metro East, has been partially entangled with culture war-like issues since 2023. The Collinsville library hosted a virtual drag queen story hour in 2022, which enraged some community members and motivated some candidates to run for the board.
What was once seen as an innocuous governing board saw its meeting attendance balloon, as the board debated annual tax levies, repairing aging infrastructure, what books should be on the library’s shelves and, more recently, how to handle staff unionization.
The two newly elected board members said they are hoping to build off the financial model of the past two years. The current board moved some of the library’s cash into interest-bearing accounts. That offset this year's need to raise the district's tax levy or the portion of taxes it uses to fund the budget.
Balaco-Reeder also expressed interest in improving the Collinsville library’s physical appearance.
“We have some unfinished business that we're going to carry on,” Murphy said.
The board’s next meeting is scheduled for April 21.
