Thank you for your past thorough and accurate reporting on library patrons’ 8-month ongoing disagreement with the Marshalltown Public Library.

As of an April 2023 policy revision, dialog at board meetings with the board concerning any agenda items is not allowed. The only public input allowed is in the 180 second public comment period at the top of the meeting. Policy states that no action will take place unless a Statement of Concern is submitted beforehand. Comments made without a statement are meaningless. At comment time with a Statement, the patron will not know what will be said by the staff/board/director about the concern in the remaining meeting. Patron rebuttal must wait four weeks until the next 180 second public comment time. The patron is prohibited from correcting inaccurate information that follows comment time until 4 weeks later and possibly after a vote takes place.

Of course, the above only applies if your Statement of Concern is on the official MPL form, submitted timely and the staff follows policy and submits it to the board and agenda. I have had 3 Statements of Concern rejected before going to the board and agenda. The first rejection was because I submitted a letter, as recommended by the Pres., instead of the proper form. The second rejection was, although timely, deemed late.

No reason was given for the third rejection, but it was probably because I mentioned the board’s refusal to purchase or accept donated subscriptions to The American Rifleman magazine or The Epoch Times newspaper. Had the policy been followed, all three should have gone to the board and agenda. Board meetings, public comment, and Statements of Concern are carefully crafted to confuse, intimidate, and dodge the public. True oversight is absent.

Additional new policy states that a title can only be considered for any reason once in five years. This policy effectively ices a title. This censoring tactic insulates the title from concern. Attorneys are surely assisting the MPL write favorable policy aimed at shutting down the public. Is the city attorney or the county attorney or a private attorney assisting? What attorney will assist the patrons?