A long-simmering controversy surrounding the Marshalltown Public Library (MPL) Board of Trustees and its decision not to add a pair of conservative publications to its periodical collection boiled over once again during Wednesday morning’s Marshall County Board of Supervisors meeting as the Board of Supervisors considered and ultimately approved the appointment of Ronnie Manis to fill the county vacancy on the library board despite objections from a group of individuals who attended the meeting.

Appointments to the seven-member library board of trustees are handled by the mayor of Marshalltown, but the Board of Supervisors does have the power to confirm or deny the lone member of the board who resides outside of city limits but within Marshall County. The seat was previously held by Judy Lindholm until her recent resignation, and Manis, the former Anson Elementary School principal who resides in Bangor Township, had previously served on the library board when he lived in Marshalltown. The appointment would run until June 30, 2028, when Manis could then be considered for a full six-year term on the board.

As the conversation kicked off on Wednesday morning, Marshalltown Public Library Director Sarah Rosenblum stepped forward to the speaking podium and explained the makeup of the board as well as the appointment process for the county member, who still requires subsequent confirmation by the Marshalltown City Council. She offered her endorsement for Manis, citing his background as an educator and active community member with a long history of public service. She also noted that the MPL Board of Trustees is a governing board as opposed to an advisory board.

Supervisors Chairwoman Carol Hibbs told the board she has known Manis for a number of years and considered him an excellent candidate for the seat. As she opened up the floor for public comments, John Worden of Green Mountain, who has led the charge to include The Epoch Times and American Rifleman Magazine in the library’s periodical collection for the last three years, urged the board to vote against appointing Manis.

Worden argued that recent appointments by Mayor Joel Greer have not been “beneficial to patrons,” citing a request from Library Board President Tonya Gaffney to produce a list of individuals who wanted The Epoch Times displayed on shelves at no cost to the MPL, which was dismissed, according to Worden, because of the wording in the petition after he gathered over 200 signatures.

He contended that anyone would be hard pressed to collect signatures for so many of the books and publications already displayed at the library and told the supervisors that attempts to arrange meetings with board members to discuss the issues he has raised have been repeatedly ignored.

“This refusal to engage patrons was nothing new and more proof of their disdain for patrons. The cycle of appointing disingenuous individuals has to stop,” Worden said. “Three of the (board members) that were invited last night that were invited to stay and engage patrons were recent appointees since 2023, so the record of appointments is not good. We need fresh thinking on that board, and I encourage you to vote no on this appointment.”

Supervisor Kevin Goodman asked Worden why, specifically, Manis shouldn’t be appointed, and he cited the record of Greer’s recent appointments and what he feels is a lack of representation for county patrons. Hibbs asked Worden if he had communicated with Manis, who was not present at Wednesday morning’s meeting, and Worden replied that he had not despite reading his application.

“It’s good. It certainly is good, but we need new people, new thinking. This is 2025,” Worden said. “All this time Judy’s been on the board, she’s not represented the county. We have supported the library without representation. That’s what it comes down to. That’s gotta stop.”

Ray Mitchem, a retired teacher who has supported Worden throughout the ongoing dispute, called the situation “disheartening” and offered his endorsement for The Epoch Times because of the alternative perspectives it provides on scientific subjects, which the Library Board took issue with during its “deep dive” on the newspaper.

“If I were on the board of the library, I would be embarrassed that all this time, the board, they pretend like they don’t want us there to show that there is more than one side,” Mitchem said. “I think there’s personal biases here that have gotten in the road of a public decision, and it is a public library.”

He reiterated the call for “new blood” on the board before Hibbs asked him the same question about whether he had communicated with Manis regarding his concerns. Mitchem said he had not.

Susan Fink, a former board member who served with Manis, described him as “a good man” and noted that any meeting between a patron and the board, even with a “neutral” individual present, would not be legal.

“I recommend Ronnie. He was a great member of our board. He has a lot of experience in the education field, and I think he would do a fantastic job,” she said.

Worden replied that the board should work out the details of how to arrange a meeting with him and said that when Mitchem attempted to arrange a meeting with Sandy Bennett, she only wanted to meet with Mitchem and not Worden. Worden then criticized the board for changing its policy in a way that allowed them to reject statements of concern from the monthly meeting agenda and not allow the item to be reconsidered for five years after it was rejected in December of 2022.

Lee Searle of rural Marshalltown introduced himself as an avid patron of the library who frequents the historical section, and he has attended five or six library board meetings since reading an editorial Worden wrote in the T-R.

“I can tell you what I’ve observed, and it’s not good,” he said. “You collect taxes from the members of Marshall County and send it to the library, and they do not listen, they do not talk about these issues. They tolerate public comment and then the meeting’s closed after that. There aren’t any votes. There aren’t any discussions. This is your one opportunity to choose somebody who can change that, so I have nothing against Mr. Manis but I would encourage you to vote no.”

Searle noted that the Iowa Library Association’s biggest stated concern on its website was censorship, and he felt the situation in Marshalltown was a prime example of censorship. He spoke highly of library staff but felt this issue had been “weaponized.”

“It would cost them nothing to put the Epoch Times on their shelves and the American Rifleman. It’s no big deal. They chose to make it a big deal,” he said. “The media in this country are controlled by six media companies. There’s lots of newspapers, but only six people control that. But the Epoch Times is outside of that sphere. I think that makes it worthwhile. If there’s anything we should all be promoting, it’s critical thinking skills.”

He spoke highly of Worden and Mitchem and even felt that Worden should run for the Board of Supervisors in the future. Linda Clark also said she had attended several library board meetings and appreciated the library, but she agreed with Mitchem, Searle and Worden that the supervisors should vote down the appointment and that the requested publications should be added to the library’s collection. Clark also took issue with police officers attending the meetings and contended that she and others had never been disruptive.

“We only ask for just consideration to represent everyone,” she said.

Goodman then asked Rosenblum for the rationale behind rejecting the publications in question, and she replied that they had gone through the library’s collection development process that must be approved at the state level.

“Staff did a lot of research, and we decided that we did not feel that these two items belonged in our library. The library has over 5,000 magazines available to us digitally, and at least a dozen of them are similar to the American Rifleman. Those are available 24 hours a day,” she said. “There’s also a number of magazines that are similar to The Epoch Times.”

Rosenblum said she spoke with a staff member at the Ankeny Public Library, which does carry The Epoch Times, and during an in-house count in February, nobody had read the paper. The MPL used to subscribe to 12 newspapers, she added, but that number is now down to three — the Des Moines Register, Times-Republican and the Wall Street Journal.

“The board considers this a settled matter. We’ve consulted with the city attorney over this matter. Frankly, it’s been a very long process, and we feel that we have done everything proper,” Rosenblum said. “I understand that not everybody can be satisfied. This is the process, though, that we’ve followed. The board has stood by it. They consider it a settled matter.”

Worden responded that the process of considering the two publications was “weaponized” by utilizing “biased sources” and said copies of the materials were not presented to the board members 30 days in advance of the vote. He also questioned the consulting of an attorney as he and other concerned patrons were simply protesting in a civil manner, and Worden noted that he, Clark and Mitchem were yelled at by another patron in 2023.

“The board refused to stop him and restore decorum. We sat in silence because we’d already talked in our comment time. We sat and listened to it, and since that happened, there’s been no apologies, and the board and staff didn’t bother to stop this person,” he said. “Yes, it’s been a long, drawn out process. It’s just ridiculous that these two publications can’t be displayed. Two generous patrons stepped up in 2023 and offered years worth of both publications, and we are bolstering the library. We are wanting to add material — popular, pertinent and timely material — to a library. The people that come to the meetings and were backing the board are nothing more than censors hiding behind the board. That’s all they are. They don’t want new material in the library.”

Mitchem added that he had offered to pay for the Epoch Times subscription but could only put it on the free counter, and it has often been taken home after he drops it off there. He felt the board was making “a mountain out of a molehill” and wished the board would want to find out more information about the publication.

Additionally, Mitchem noted that Searle has applied for appointment to the library board and said he would like to see someone with “integrity” should be chosen to fill the seat. Worden then laid out the process for appointing a new board member if Manis’s application was rejected, noting that individuals like Searle and Monte Eaton have applied and would be better fits, in his view.

Rosenblum then returned to the podium and shared stories of the widespread support the library receives within the community through compliments, financial contributions, flowers and even Valentine’s Day cards.

“People tell me that they do pay attention. They read what’s happening. They support the library. They support the decisions of the board,” she said. “I don’t know what the process is if you decide not to approve the mayor’s appointee, but I do know that the bulk of the community (supports us)… We probably could’ve filled this room with supporters of the library. We didn’t feel that that was necessary, but I can tell you that there’s great support among the community, both the city community members and rural community members, for the board and its decisions.”

Mitchem returned to comment that he has been a longtime supporter of the library and simply hoped to make it better by adding more publications for patrons to read. As the conversation shifted back to the board, Supervisor Jarret Heil said he was encouraged by the spirited debate and passion for the library on both sides of the matter, and he felt Manis was qualified to fill the seat given his background and credentials.

Heil indicated his intention to support the appointment but also agreed with those who advocated for adding The Epoch Times and American Rifleman to the library’s collection.

“I don’t see why it’s a big deal. I don’t see why there’s a problem of not having it there. I think it should be in there. There’s been a desire of a lot of patrons for a while that have wanted this,” he said. “I would like to see the library reconsider that and make that happen. I think a good process of good government is to review it again. I think that would be wise just because there’s been a lot of attention to it, and for all those that they’ve made, I completely agree. At the same time, holding up appointees for more uncertainty isn’t necessarily the answer when the Board of Trustees, moreso the city of Marshalltown, their governing body, probably has more of a say on the issue of the periodicals that are in the library moreso than us as the board of supervisors.”

Heil was encouraged by the comments about the service provided by the library, and he hoped all of those involved could work through their differences and fight for what they believe in respectfully. Goodman agreed that he saw no reason not to confirm Manis but wished to see those on the opposite side work with him to find a way to include the publications in question in the library’s collection in the future.

Hibbs reiterated her support for Manis and his longstanding record of community involvement, and she had a hard time believing he wouldn’t be open minded as a board member in working to find a resolution to the situation and hearing a wide range of viewpoints. In her final comment, Clark said her request to have the publications placed behind a counter to prevent theft were ignored and reiterated the call for “new blood” on the board.

Searle then referenced an aphorism about the definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result — and Worden promised to keep the supervisors informed about how the new county representative serves the patrons of the library.

A motion from Heil to approve the appointment of Manis passed by a unanimous 3-0 vote, and it will now go to the Marshalltown City Council for final confirmation. When reached by the T-R Wednesday afternoon, Manis said he was unaware of how the conversation went during the meeting but would “as always, do my research on any topics related to the library from a board perspective and make decisions based on that.”

Rosenblum reached out later in the day and told the T-R that American Rifleman is a publication provided to members of the National Rifle Association, and the library does not join or advocate for membership-based organizations. She also commented that copies of The Epoch Times were provided to the library board for advanced review, and all statements of concern are provided to the board for consideration about whether or not to include on the meeting agendas. She felt many of Worden’s statements that have been rejected were not focused on specific publications but were used to make broader complaints about her and the board’s leadership.

In other business, the board:

• Recognized jailer Christine Kelley for 30 years of service to the sheriff’s office.

• Approved the consent agenda as listed.

• Approved the recount for the Gladbrook-Reinbeck school bond referendum, which was conducted at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

• Approved the adoption of a new 457(b) deferred compensation plan with Corebridge Financial.

• Approved the additional non-union state holidays of the day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday, Nov. 27) and Christmas Eve (Wednesday, Dec. 24).

• Approved an employment contract and agreement renewal with County Engineer Paul Geilenfeldt through Nov. 30, 2028.

• Reappointed Dr. Wendy Thiessen to a seat on the Marshall County Board of Health with a term beginning on Jan. 1, 2026 and ending Dec. 31, 2028.

• Approved a CEO shared liability 28E agreement and authorized the chair to sign.

• Approved a reappropriation of funds for the FY2025-2026 budget.

• Approved a resolution to elect an unemployment method after the termination of a 28E agreement with ISAC group unemployment.

• Approved the annual Urban Renewal report for FY2024-2025.

• Approved a review of the county attorney Westlaw contract and authorized the county attorney to sign.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.