Library trustees fire back at board

The Wareham Board of Library Trustees has launched a legal counterattack on the selectmen, who have demanded that the trustees turn over records relating to the library's $350,000 endowment.

New Bedford attorney Philip Beauregard, on behalf of the trustees, filed a complaint in Plymouth Superior Court on Friday against each of the selectmen, for actions they took against the trustees during the past month.

First, selectmen abruptly dismissed the entire Board of Library Trustees on July 24, on grounds that members had not been properly appointed under the town charter. Town Counsel Elizabeth Corbo had been asked for her opinion of the appointments, and she agreed with the selectmen's position.

Town Administrator John McAuliffe said selectmen had scrutinized the trustee appointments as part of their ongoing review of the town charter.

Library trustees have historically been appointed by a three-person panel composed of the chairmen of the selectmen and library trustees, along with the town moderator. But the Board of Selectmen concluded that it should have been the sole appointing authority, and summarily dismissed the trustees.

Next, the selectmen aggressively pursued all records relating to $350,000 in trusts and bequests that have been overseen by a private nonprofit charitable corporation on behalf of the library for more than 100 years. Corbo, in a letter to the trustees and library director last week, said the endowment funds should be in the hands of the town treasurer, "as required by law." The trustees were told to hand over the records by last Thursday or risk being subpoenaed.

"This is not the selectmen trying to capture funds that are rightly the property of the library," McAuliffe said. "This is the selectmen expecting financial accountability that the funds are being appropriately managed and recorded in town. I have no reason to believe any money is missing, but we still have an obligation to see it's accounted for."

McAuliffe said selectmen had not yet discussed how they would now proceed. According to Beauregard's office, town officials have 20 days to file a response with the court.

"I'm disappointed the financial information wasn't presented, that it wasn't separated from the other issues," McAuliffe said. "What we requested was absolutely public record. Let's hope calmer heads will prevail and they will turn over the financial records."

Veteran town accountant Robert Bliss, who said he has never received a record of the endowment money, agreed. "I have no knowledge of where these funds came from, but if it was given to the town library as a gift, it would be deposited with the town," Bliss said.

Trustees chairwoman Priscilla Porter said her panel feels under siege. "When the selectmen dismissed us on July 24, we were dumbfounded," Porter said. "It was just shattering. Then we went back and did our homework, and all these things came to light."

The board contacted the attorney general's office, the Board of Library Commissioners, and the state Department of Revenue for information regarding its rights.

Porter said that the trust funds and bequests are private endowments left specifically for the library, and that as such, they are not town money. The accounts are overseen and disbursed by a nonprofit corporation that was established for that purpose in 1891. The nonprofit, which now bears the name Wareham Free Library Foundation, is composed of the same members who serve on the Board of Library Trustees. The foundation's treasurer, who is bonded according to the nonprofit corporation's bylaws, oversees the trust funds and bequests. Any new funds, as well as the use or distribution of existing funds by the foundation, are reported to the state yearly, as required by statutes governing nonprofit, charitable organizations.

According to David Gray, spokesman for the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, the blend of public and private roles by boards that oversee libraries is common, since many libraries were originally private operations. The arrangement can also be confusing.

Money that is bequeathed to the library often has a specific use attached, Gray said. Such trust funds are not meant to replace contributions from the town to cover staff and day-to-day operation. In order to participate in shared library networks, communities must pay a required share of the library's operating costs.

In Wareham, the library went from a private to a combination private/public operation in the late 1970s, when it moved into a building constructed by the town. Trustees were designated, at that point, according to the bylaws of the Wareham Free Library Foundation, which named as the appointing authority the chairmen of the selectmen and trustees along with the moderator.

"What we really want is to just discuss this and straighten it out without going to court," Porter said Monday. "I just don't know if that's going to happen."

The trustees included a statement with their court filing, criticizing selectmen. "Instead of making due diligence inquiry into our history and existence as a nonprofit corporate board, and then initiating a rational non-politically inspired discussion on issues concerning the library, the selectmen have chosen bullying tactics, insult, and even slander as weapons against the Wareham Free Library's board of trustees," the statement said.

The trustees are seeking a judgment from a jury, ruling they were properly appointed and retain the right to oversee the endowment funds for the library. They are also seeking reimbursement for attorney's fees, along with damages for public criticism they say they have endured.

Library director Mary Jane Pillsbury, a former longtime selectwoman who served with several on the current board, said she feels stuck in the middle of the dispute.

"I just don't want anything to harm the library," Pillsbury said. "It's a wonderful institution that is used by so many people. The rhetoric needs to ratchet down and cooler heads prevail."

Christine Wallgren can be reached at CLWallgren@aol.com.