By Joe Ragusa
BLOOMINGTON – The Bloomington Bookmobile doesn’t go to the poor side of town. You could see it that way, but many Bloomington Public Library trustees aren’t so sure that’s the real problem.
Trustee Van Miller said during Tuesday’s board meeting that the Bookmobile isn’t the only way to serve the community, so a lack of Bookmobile stops on the city’s west side may not be an issue.
“I think we want to make sure the library is serving the community and I would like to put it in the staff’s hands to determine the best way to do that,” Miller said. “The Bookmobile may not be the right avenue for serving certain pockets of the community.”
Other trustees said the real problem is there aren’t enough people with library cards in that part of town and that’s why Bookmobile participation was low in those areas in the past.
The west side of Bloomington is made up of a higher ratio of lower-income and minority residents than the rest of the city.
Board member Susan O’Rourke had an issue with board president Carol Koos trying to end discussion after about 40 minutes.
“As I recall, we elected you president; We did not make you a demigod,” O’Rourke said. “Shutting down conversation by the entire board is not productive.”
Koos said the meeting had lasted two hours by that point and some library members had to leave, so she wanted to make sure a quorum was present to take action on other agenda items.
No action was taken regarding the Bookmobile by the board. Many of the trustees agreed that more research into the topic needs to be done.
Joe Ragusa can be reached at [email protected].
