Opponents of proposed St. Charles County library closures rally and organize

O’FALLON, Mo. — Critics of a proposed closure of three St. Charles County Library branches kept the pressure on Tuesday night, holding a rally before a library district board meeting.

“I feel like we were all blindsided by this a few days ago,” said Angie Quigley, one of the speakers at the rally outside the Middendorf-Kredell branch.

“Everybody is here because we all love the library. I would encourage you to keep fighting. People are noticing. It’s making a difference.”

Since the St. Charles City-County Library District’s administration announced the shutdown proposal late last week, Quigley said, more than 5,000 people have joined an opposition Facebook group that she and others began.

Quigley, 42, lives in an unincorporated area near the McClay branch in St. Charles, one of the three that would be permanently closed under the proposal.

Another speaker, Emily Burns, 23, of O’Fallon, said she has used another branch on the potential shutdown list — Deer Run in O’Fallon — since she was a child. The third is the Kisker Road branch near Weldon Spring.

“They’re all surrounded by neighborhoods,” she said.

At the rally, attended by about 125 people, protesters carried signs with messages such as “Please Don’t Take My Library” and ‘”Please Leave Our Libraries Open.”

Many also spoke at the board meeting that followed inside the building. About 200 people attended the meeting, with many watching a video of the session in an overflow room.

Jason Kuhl, the library district’s CEO, at a board meeting Friday night outlined the proposal, aimed at dealing with financial problems caused in part by the rising cost of electronic books and a streaming platform used increasingly in recent years by library patrons.

He also said the closures and the layoff of 39 employees would allow the district to increase the pay for remaining staffers, who he said are underpaid according to a salary study compiled for the district.

In addition, 25 vacancies wouldn’t be filled under the proposal.

After numerous residents spoke against the proposal at the Friday meeting, the board voted to delay a decision for 30 days.

At the Tuesday night meeting, board president Staci Alvarez said it’s possible that a decision could be held off longer than that.

“We will take as long as necessary to make the right decision that’s best for the district,” she said.

She also acknowledged that the district needs to do a better job communicating with library users and its own staff.

“It is very clear that we have not done as good a job as we could have done communicating issues facing the library district,” she said.

Critics of the plan have complained about the way it was unveiled to the public.

Last Wednesday, the district announced it would hold a special board meeting Friday at which a vote might be taken on a closure plan that could trigger “workforce reorganization and reduction.” District officials refused to elaborate until the Friday session.