Tensions Run High as Library Votes to Hire New Librarian

09 Thursday May 2024

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Have you been wondering what’s going on with the Pawlet Library Board and last Fall’s controversial firing of the library director?

If so, you’re in luck! Because here are the Top Three Things that happened at the last Library Board meeting (May 7):

  1. The board voted four to one to proceed with the process of hiring a new librarian.

The lone dissenting vote came from newest board member Lauren Herbert who said “I’m totally against it. I still support mediation.”

Here’s what some other folks in attendance had to say:

“I’m putting my trust and backing to the board with their decision to let Lyndsi go.” Bob Schoenemann

“I have no confidence in the four (library board) members who have chosen to do this… Until you get your ducks in a row it’s totally inappropriate to replace Lyndsi.”- Marty Kravitt

“I’m also against pursuing hiring… I don’t believe the library had a right to fire her.” -Cori Rail

“I believe Lindsey knows why she was fired… I have full confidence in the board.”- Jed Rubin

  • There was controversy at the revelation that library funds were used to pay attorney fees of $3,500.

Resident Sue LaPorte pointed out that Library Board Chair Harley Cudney had previously promised that no library funds would be used to pay attorney fees.

Library Board member Lauren Herbert expressed dismay over the fact that an attorney had been hired without any discussion of cost, and that the paying of the attorney’s bill appeared to violate the library’s bylaws which require the board to discuss any expenditure over $1,000.

After some conversation on this topic Board Chair Harley Cudney said “I think I made a mistake… I believe I made a mistake.”

There was discussion of altering the procedure by which bills are paid, in order that all library board members have an opportunity to discuss expenses in the context of public meeting before payment.

It was also noted that the Pawlet Select Board has separately paid legal fees of $4,400, also in connection with the situation created by the firing of the Library Director.

  • These meetings are contentious.

Months after the abrupt firing of the Pawlet Library Director, emotions are still clearly running very high. Throughout the meeting there were multiple outbursts from audience members and heated exchanges between Cudney and upset community members. More than once the board chair threatened to expel attendees from the meeting, although it never came to pass. Here is just a sample:

“It’s embarrassing to our town… The whole town is suffering because of what you did here… We shouldn’t have to go on like this,” Monica Kravitt

“Given the excessive costs that your actions have cost the library and the town… all four of you really should consider stepping down,”- Marty Kravitt

“I am running the meeting,”- Board Chair Harley Cudney

“I will jump in when I feel it’s appropriate,”- Marty Kravitt

“You’ve been paying for attorneys secretly between meetings. You’re costing the town money. You’re costing the library support… March 2025 is coming very, very soon… Things are going to be changing and to bring somebody else in is a mistake,” – Sue LaPorte (Referencing the next election of library board members. At least one position will be changing due to term limits.)

Want to see the entire two and a half hour meeting yourself? You can! Here is the PEG TV link: https://www.pegtv.com/video-on-demand

The next Library Board meeting is scheduled to take place at the Pawlet Public Library, June 4 at 5:30PM.

Pawlet Author in Washington Post and on Weather Channel

22 Monday Apr 2024

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The theme for this year’s Earth Day is “Planet vs. Plastics,” and accordingly, Pawlet author Eve Schaub is featured in a Washington Post Op Ed making the case that we should all stop trying to recycle plastic.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/22/stop-recycling-plastic-earth-day

Additionally, a segment airing for Earth Day on the Weather Channel features Schaub’s most recent book Year of No Garbage, and details her struggle against the overabundance of single use, disposable plastic in modern life.

This Just In: NO Library Board Meeting Tonight

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

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Depending on who you talk to, either the Pawlet Library Board Meeting tonight is cancelled, or there never was a meeting scheduled to begin with.

The upshot is that I have confirmed with the Pawlet Town Hall that no meeting will be happening at the library tonight, but there WILL still be a Select Board meeting, which everyone is encouraged to attend (Zoom attendance is also possible):

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3494892532
Meeting ID: 349 489 2532

When will the Library Board meet again, you might ask? Well, according to Town Clerk Deb Hawkins, it would be usual for them to have a meeting on the first Tuesday of next month. Then again, the first Tuesday of March, is the Town Meeting, so I highly doubt any other town business will be happening that night.

Could it be that we’ll have to wait until April – or longer- to have another Library Board meeting?

Stay tuned.

Pawlet Artists’ Work Acquired by State of Vermont

05 Monday Feb 2024

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EveNSteve are extremely pleased to announce that their artwork “My Dear Grace” has been acquired by the collection of the State of Vermont in recognition of the 100th anniversary of Calvin Coolidge’s swearing in as President of the United States.

Eve and Stephen Schaub and their two daughters present the four panel artwork “My Dear Grace” to Vermont State curator David Schutz under the statehouse portrait of Calvin Coolidge

“We’re delighted to have EveNSteve join the Vermont State collection,” says Vermont State Curator David Schutz. “Their artwork elicits deep meaning from the thoughtful juxtaposition of imagery and words, and asks us to consider the unknown and forgotten pieces of history in ways that are both playful and profound.”

EveNSteve is the creative partnership of author Eve O. Schaub and artist Stephen Schaub, residents of Pawlet, Vermont.

“It is an enormous honor,” Eve Schaub says. “The Vermont State collection represents a wealth of artistic practice from throughout our state’s history. We could not be more proud for our work to be in such company.”

Entitled “My Dear Grace,” the four panel artwork features imagery from the Calvin Coolidge homestead at Plymouth Notch, Vermont and is hand-inscribed with excerpts from letters written by a young Calvin Coolidge to his sweetheart and future wife, Grace Goodhue. The original letters are part of the collection of the Vermont Historical Society. 

“This artwork is all about bringing history into the creative conversation and reminding us that history is never a singular narrative, but multi-dimensional,” explains Stephen Schaub. “In this artwork we see a very different side of the 30th president and Vermont’s famously ‘Silent Cal.’”

During their year and a half courtship Calvin Coolidge and his future wife wrote one another very often, sometimes as much as ten times a month, even though they lived across the street from one another. The letters reveal the strict social protocols of the time, as well as a different, more personal side of the future president. He teases Grace about her love for strawberry shortcake, he tells her he is lonesome for her and that he misses her “cross look.” And did you know that our 30th president was fond of little black bears?

The department of the Vermont State Curator plans for the works to be displayed in the State House at a future date. To see other examples of artwork and short films by EveNSteve visit evensteve.com.

Librarian Firing Still a Mystery- So is Who’s Paying for the Library’s Attorney

04 Sunday Feb 2024

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There’ve been many meetings since Pawlet library director Lyndsi Barnes was unceremoniously fired in November. Yet, three months later we still have no word as to why it happened or whether it was actually legal. No answers. No statement.

But now we have a new mystery to add to our list: Who is paying for the Library Board’s attorney?

Instead of answers, there’s been a tremendous amount of evasiveness from the Library Board. What we do know is that the Library Board now has legal representation- Gary Cupferer of Rutland, VT. This is separate from the lawyer who represents the Pawlet Select Board (Merrill Bent of Manchester, VT). We also know that they refuse to disclose who is paying for it.

The town isn’t paying for it. The library isn’t paying for it. The Library Board Chair isn’t paying for it.

When pressed at the January 2 Library Board meeting, Library Board Chair Harley Cudney said that although he would not reveal their identity, he does know who is paying for the attorney’s advice. He added that when Cufperer informed him who it was he “didn’t believe the answer when he heard it.”

Is this getting weirder all the time or what?

Yes, we need to have patience as the wheels of government, and their assorted legal advisors, slowly turn. But if our representatives in local boards imagine this issue will quietly go away without any review or explanation, I think they are making a serious misstep. Pawlet townspeople clearly care about this firing and how it was handled, and whether it is allowed to stand.

Folks, I truly believe we all want the best possible resolution to what has become a very messy and unpleasant situation. I believe that the Pawlet Library is beloved by pretty much everyone who lives here and that this debacle has come to be symbolic of a larger matter: that of overall town governmental transparency.

The next Library Board AND Select Board meetings are being held on Tues. Feb 6 at 5:30 PM at the Library and 7PM at the Town Hall, respectively. I encourage everyone who cares about this issue to attend, (Select Board meetings may also be attended via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3494892532 Meeting ID: 349 489 2532 )

Pawlet Artists EveNSteve Release Newest Short Film – A WEEK IN THE ICE HOUSE

19 Friday Jan 2024

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An intimate portrait of two artists working in a nineteenth-century converted icehouse in the waning light of December 2023. A meditation on light, sound, and color, “A Week in the Icehouse” invites the viewer to slow down and observe the unique artistic practice and partnership of EveNSteve while engaging with an energy of place. Taking place in and around the historic Corn Hill district in Truro, Cape Cod, this experimental film is an artwork about the practice and play of making art.

Pawlet Librarian Firing Under Regional Scrutiny

02 Saturday Dec 2023

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The Pawlet librarian has been abruptly fired and most folks in town would like to know why. And it’s newsworthy enough that regional NPR affiliate WAMC has done a story about it. Here’s the link: https://www.wamc.org/news/2023-11-30/pawlet-vermont-residents-call-for-reinstatement-of-town-librarian

At the last two Pawlet Select Board meetings, folks showed up to complain about the mysterious dismissal. If you missed these meetings, you can watch them here:

https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/MFXsvSYzjQOlecorW3Sq8GyBkhIm0OQN/media/836576?autostart=false&showtabssearch=true&fullscreen=false
(This is the Nov. 14th meeting; for the public comment on the library go to time code 54:00)
https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/MFXsvSYzjQOlecorW3Sq8GyBkhIm0OQN/media/836576?autostart=false&showtabssearch=true&fullscreen=false
(This is the Nov. 28th meeting; for the public comment on the library go to time code 44:30)

Lots of folks had wonderful things to say about Lyndsi Barnes’ performance as the Pawlet Librarian over the past two years, as well as her impressive resume. At one point Sue LaPorte gave the Select Board a collection of letters of support for Lyndsi Barnes. (20 letters? I think? It’s a little hard to hear.)

During the Nov 14th meeting library board member Grace Larson gives us our only clue as to any possible rationale behind the firing saying “there was a disconnect between the programming and welcoming community members to use the library resources.”

If being not “welcoming” was a longstanding problem, I think you have to wonder why the Library Board unanimously voted to give the librarian a raise only a week before.

But let’s assume this assertion may truly get to the heart of the debate: whether, over the last two years our community felt welcomed to the public institution of the library. So I’m asking the question: is there anyone out there who has felt unwelcome in our library?

“We have been investigating,” said Select Board Chair Mike Beecher during a recent meeting. “We’re taking this all very seriously.”

I’m so glad. Because in the history of our town I can’t recall the last time a firing like this took place, and certainly not one so controversial. Our town needs- and deserves- transparency on this issue.

I encourage everyone who cares about the Pawlet Library— and transparency in our town governance— to show up at the next Library Board meeting and ask for an explanation: it takes place next Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 5:30PM at the Pawlet Library.