Category: Library Levy

Follow The Money

According to the latest financial report filed with the Montana Office of Political Practices the Great Falls ‘Vote YES For Libraries’ campaign committee has raised $119,350.65 so far.

$95,000 of that total amount came from two donors:

$55,000 from Brandon Olds, Great Falls – RIGHT OF WAY SUPERVISOR STATE OF MT HIGHWAY DEPT

$40,000 from Douglas Little, Great Falls – SELF EMPLOYED

Of the $119,350.65 raised so far, 95%, $108,685 has gone to an out-of-state political consulting and campaign media strategy company called Cerillion N4 Partners in Seattle, Washington.

You can look up all of the campaign contribution and expenditure data here.

Opinion by Jeni Dodd

There are a number of folks out there claiming that the Library Foundation, not the taxpayers, are paying for the library levy election. Not true — Great Falls taxpayers ARE footing the bill for this special election.

I suspect the misconception stems from Library Director McIntyre stating that the library is paying for the election out of the library fund, without explaining how the library fund is funded. Here’s the truth about who is paying for the library levy election. It is NOT the library foundation.

I was at the City Commission meeting on Feb 21 where this was discussed. If anyone wants to see for themselves, it starts at @00:54:40 in the video. https://greatfallsmt.viebit.com/player.php?hash=DRnM1d78NoUA

Commissioner Hinebauch asked Library Director McIntyre who is paying for the June levy election. McIntyre stated, “The library fund.”

Commissioner Tryon then asked for clarification about where the library fund comes from.

Melissa Kinzler, the city’s financial officer, launched into a detailed description of the various sources, all of which are taxpayer-funded.

Then Commissioner Tryon stated, “I guess the answer to that would be that the library fund is a taxpayer-funded fund. It comes from local taxpayers. In other words, it’s not a fund that the library raises independently or through the Library Foundation or some other entity.”

“Correct,” answered McIntyre.

First, some people recognize June as ‘Pride Month’.

Second, Governor Gianforte signed a bill banning ‘drag queens’ from reading to kids in libraries and some other public spaces.

Third, the Great Falls Public Library is asking voters for over $1,000,000 more per year to expand their programs.

The conjunction of these three events raises the question: Does the Great Falls Public Library intend to sponsor another ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ for kids on their ‘Kids Place’ YouTube video channel next month, as they did in 2021?

If so, the Library Board and Director Susie McIntyre should inform the public right now of their intention to do so and not wait until they know the results of the June 6 levy vote.

No Mother Goose Here

It should be noted that the stories read by the local drag queens during 2021 ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’ for kids sponsored by your public library were not innocent Mother Goose or Humpty Dumpty tales – they were stories promoting the LGBTQ+ social/political agenda.

Including a story about a very little boy going to the doctor and hearing about becoming ‘transgender’. Here’s the screenshot from the story being read to your kids, sponsored and promoted by your tax dollars.

You can watch the entire video here on a previous post from E-City Beat.

Here’s our poll question:

[poll id=”35″]

Opinion by Jeni Dodd

A policy change enacted last fall at the Great Falls Public Library that
has implications for the parental rights of minor library patrons seems to
have flown under the radar for many Great Falls parents.

The library evidently had a policy in place until September 2022 that
those under the age of 18 required a parent or guardian’s signature
before they could get a library card.

But in September 2022, the library board unanimously voted for an
“updated library card policy that does not require parental notification”
library_approved_meeting_minutes_september_27_2022.pdf (greatfallsmt.net)

The policy details are found in the September 2022 Director’s Report:

“IMPROVING LIBRARY CARD ACCESS: As discussed at the last
Board meeting, the Library would like to lower the barriers to Library
use. Later in the agenda, the Board will be voting on a change to Library
Card policy to allow persons age 14 – 17 to obtain cards without
requiring a parent signature. Your Board packet also contains
information about a proposed project to partner with local school
districts to provide students with Great Falls Public Library digital
resource access Library cards.” (Emphasis added)
library_directors_report_september_2022.pdf (greatfallsmt.net)

Yet the GFPL website still states:

“How do I get a card if I am under the age of 18?

Bring your parent or legal guardian down to the Great Falls Public
Library at 301 2 Avenue North and stop at the first floor checkout desk.
Have your parent or legal guardian fill out the library card application.
Have your parent or legal guardian show us a picture id (driver’s license,
military id …) and proof of their current address. If their current address
isn’t on their id, they can just bring in a piece of mail or a bill that does
show their address.” Get a Library Card | Great Falls, MT Public Library

Why has the library not changed the information on their website to
reflect the policy change the library board voted in? The latest library
policy manual available online, dated November 2021, as well as the
library card application form, also still state that a parent or guardian
must sign for applicants under the age of 18. gfpl_policy_manual_-_all_sections_combined_1.pdf

It’s been eight months since this policy change. Are they hiding the fact
that they changed this policy from parents?

It might be relevant at this time to also point out that library policy cites
Montana law and the Montana Constitution as legal authority to prohibit
disclosure of library patron records, including those of minors, to anyone
without the patron’s permission. Now with this library card policy
change, that means parents additionally might never find out their child
has a library card.

Regarding the proposed partnerships with local school districts
discussed at the same library board meeting, The Electric covered that in
an article. One quote from that piece stands out.

“The library would not provide information to schools about individual
student use of resources but would provide district or school statistical
information about the overall use of resources, according to library
staff.” Library proposes digital library card numbers for area students | The Electric (theelectricgf.com)

So it appears parents are once again left out of the loop with Great Falls
Public Library policy, since the library won’t forward individual student
records to the school districts. Did any of the local school districts
approve partnering with the library? I have yet to find that answer.

Unlike local “official” media, who much of the time appear to report as
if they are parroting a spoon-fed narrative, I am committed to dig for the
information that they fail to provide in their reporting.

So why didn’t The Electric include in their article the aforementioned
public library card policy change allowing 14-17 year olds to obtain
library cards without a parent or guardian’s signature, which was
approved at the same meeting as the proposed school district
partnerships The Electric covered? Did The Electric think it was not
newsworthy?

Seems like Library Director McIntyre dropped the ball by failing to
ensure the library policy manual, the website and the library card
application are updated—tasks which I would guess are an integral part
of her job.

Perhaps she should spend less time “observing” at the
Cascade County Elections Office, as several volunteers there have
reported to me she’s been doing, and get back to the job she was hired to
do.

The cover photo for this post was sent to E-City Beat earlier today.

As of this afternoon the ‘Liberty & Values MT’ group responsible for the Great Falls billboard was not found on the campaign electronic reporting search page.

‘Vote Yes For Libraries’, a Great Falls ballot issue committee campaigning in favor of a Great Falls Public Library mil levy increase, reported the following contributions and expenditures in their C-6 committee finance report filed 1/17/23.