Instead of responding to points made in my May 9th letter with facts, Lewis and Ginter respond with attitude May 13th and May 14th respectively.

As to Lewis’s fiction, I did not gather signatures at Walmart. However, since I initiated the petition, I apologized to the manager for it. She was cordial.

Lewis also relied on fiction to describe the reason I attended the Nov. 2017 MPL board meeting. I attended not to request ID for entry, instead to object to the use of the library by groups to encourage and celebrate illegal entry into the US. I suggested that groups supporting illegal activity should provide a venue. Patrons should know that in that board meeting, two-way civil conversation did occur. As of the Nov. 2022 board meeting, two-way conversation has not occurred even though according to MPL Policy and Procedure, trustees can initiate it. Until proven otherwise, trustees have been instructed not to engage patrons and seem content to oblige. One attempt was made early this year and nothing positive resulted. It is a pretty sure bet that intimidation within the MPL inner circle prevented any further attempts at finding “middle ground” as requested by Pres. Gaffney.

It is also fiction that I never use the library. I did a lot of homework in the Carnegie Library and was surprised and disappointed to find that the automotive service manuals did not transfer to the new building. The Trustee Handbook states that patrons ($) are to be respected whether or not they use the library.

As for Ginter’s response, he must not know that collection criteria point listed as #1 is Patron Demand. “Demand” seems like a strong word, but is, in essence, what more than 200 patrons expressed in civil terms. He seems to imply that patrons should not rely on libraries to satisfy “self driven” curiosity, instead purchase publications on their own dime. Expressing his political reasons for belittling the publications exposed the true goal of censorship. Trustee censorship began with the corrupted vote not to purchase in Dec. 2022.

Most criticism of the publications comes from those who have never turned a page of either publication. Some even admit as much.

Editor, aren’t you obligated to attend the June 17 MPL board meeting to photograph trustees fleeing the boardroom to avoid an invitation to exemplify community representation?