Meet Your Candidates: Catherine Peters, Morton Grove Public Library, Board of Trustees

Catherine Peters is running for a six-year seat on the Morton Grove Public Library Board of Trustees, the seven-member group responsible for shaping the library's fiscal and operating policies.

According to the B-PAC website, Peters started her career as a Critical Care nurse, then switched to journalism and worked at two Chicago broadcasting stations before opening up her own company, Pam's Robe, which makes gift robes for people suffering from illness.

Members of the library board serve six-year terms. This year, three seats are up for six-year terms, and one seat is up for a two-year term on the library board. Two organizations are campaigning for spots on the library board: B-PAC (Mark Albers, Paul Berg, David Calimag and Catherine Peters) and PROLibrary (Bernadette Fahy, Laura Frisch, Lawrence Levin and Renee Miller, a write-in candidate). 

Calimag and Fahy are vying for the two-year term spot, while all other six candidates are campaigning for the six-year term spots.

Morton Grove Patch collects the library enthusiasts' notes with the same Q&As for each candidate, publishes them in alphabetical order, and does not change submitted answers in punctuation, style or content.

Now then, let's get down to the questions:

Patch: How would you assess the state of the library’s budget?

Peters: The tax levy for the library has been spinning wildly out of control, and it has to stop now. In the past 6 years, the levy has increased from $2 million to more than $3 million per year. That’s an almost 50% increase at a time when there has been virtually no inflation and a time when the recession has hit every citizen of Morton Grove. During that same time, there has been a 40% increase in full time staff for a facility whose size and operating hours has not changed. Additionally, according to their most recent yearly Statement of Net Assets and Balance sheet, the library has $2 million in cash/liquid investments that they have not reflected in their budget. Why would they mandate a 15% raise ($400,000) in the budget next year when they have $2,000,000 on hand to pay for “culture and recreation”?

Patch: If expenses need to be reduced, exactly what would you cut? Be specific.

Peters: We will undertake a forensic audit of the past several years to see exactly where the extra million dollars of the tax levy increase has gone, and how the board was able to accrue $2,000,000 in a fund that is “Reserved/restricted for culture and recreation”. We will put an immediate freeze on the creation of new positions and train, support and utilize the many volunteers in the community who wish to serve their library. We will cut all the money that is earmarked for the search for the new library building and find out exactly what improvements need to be instituted in the current building..

Patch: If more revenue needs to be raised, exactly what would you propose? Be specific.

Peters: We will set a responsible budget and live within it. We will sell the books that are donated to the library instead of the current practice of turning them over to the Friends of the Library. Proceeds of books donated to the library should go directly to the library, and not filtered through a secondary source. Considering that the tax levy has gone from $2 million a year to $3 million a year over the past several years, I see no reason why the library needs more tax revenue. Additionally, the $2,000,000 on hand in cash and cash equivalents should cover any catastrophe that might befall the library. We will encourage local businesses to “Adopt a Program” at the library. We will procure a list of local Morton Grove businesses that can provide services that will be needed to maintain the current library building.

Patch: What’s the best way for the library to keep up with changing technologies, such as the way people access books and materials? (Example: eBooks, iPods, and developing technologies

Peters: Our excellent staff of librarians will continue to be equipped with the latest technology and receive training on how to use it so that they, in turn, can educate the citizens of Morton Grove on how to negotiate the latest hardware and software. The use of these new technologies and how it impacts the library changes by the week, making the job of our librarians quite challenging. But they are more than up to this challenge. We will increase the number of computers and laptops available to the public, along with classes needed to support the new technologies.

Patch: Is the library adequately providing the following, or do you feel these need to be adopted or augmented: computers, study rooms, reading areas, drive-through book drop-offs, self-checkout stations, refreshments/food. Would you suggest any others?

Peters: We will purchase more computers, laptops and notepads, and repurpose some of the existing space to accommodate them. Study and reading areas are adequate, as is the drive-through drop-off. We will meet with other area libraries that have self-check out stations and evaluate citizen response. We will be the first board to comply with our new policy of not paying for food/refreshments out of the budget by bringing our own cookies to the board meetings  We’ll even share them.

Patch: Does the wireless connection for patrons need to be upgraded?

Peters: This is a question that can best be answered by Kevin Justie, the Assistant Director and head of Automated Services and Technology at the library. At a recent board meeting,  he presented an excellent report on the current library databases, subscriptions, hardware and software, and I would trust his opinion on this topic. I have experienced no trouble accessing the wireless connection at the library.

Patch: What is your favorite childhood book? What are you currently reading?

Peters: Favorite childhood book: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Currently reading: Cutting for Stone (for the Morton Grove library book club ), El Juego del Ángel (in Spanish) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón,  It’s a Girl, but Will She Live?, the Kathryn Blasco Story (given to me by a friend),  Just finished: War Horse.  Re-reading: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner, The Holy Bible (NIV)

Patch: Is the library adequately reaching out to diverse populations, i.e., people with primary languages other than English, people with visual difficulties, others.

Peters: There is a low-vision book group, which we would encourage and promote. We have an excellent selection of Large Print books. But handicap accessibility for the second floor has been used as an excuse as to why we need a new library building. It’s an easy fix, and we would fix it immediately by installing a chair lift to negotiate those few stairs. For residents who are learning English, we would meet with the head of the ESL program at Niles West to coordinate material support. I can speak from personal experience that a person with disabilities will always be accommodated by the facility and assisted by the wonderful staff. I know that I was. That is what the library is here for…to serve the learning needs of everyone in the community, from the youngest to the most senior, and from the strongest to the most challenged among us.

Patch: Does the library get adequate feedback from patrons? If not, how would you increase the flow of communication? Be specific

Peters: This current board does not appear to want feedback from the patrons. They don’t care that they have raised the tax levy 50%, or that they increased the budget for next year by almost 15% during a recession. They don’t want to hear that the vast majority of the people are opposed to a new library building. They have been going full steam ahead for years with the goal of building a new library building. B-PAC cares about all of these things.  We need to hear what you want and need from your library. We will record and televise our board meetings. We will post the minutes promptly. We will encourage public comment at the beginning and end of every board meeting and publish proposed changes along with the agenda before the meeting. We will become a public-driven library, not a board-driven library.

Patch: Does the library need upgrades to its facilities? Be specific.

Peters: Certainly. For the past several years the board has failed to fully maintain and update our library building, banking on their goal of building a new building instead of maintaining and improving the one we already have. We would make the necessary repairs and institute upgrades to make our current library efficient and comfortable for public and staff alike. The $2,000,000 that we currently have in cash and cash equivalents would go a long way to ameliorate any problems with the current building.  Instead of an expensive, expansive new building, we are banking that the library of the future will be the physical size of the current Morton Grove Public Library, with library nooks reaching into homes in our community via the internet. This new library will continue to serve the needs of all of our residents, from the youngest pre-reader to the most senior person in our community.

Patch: What else would you like voters to know about your positions on issues, point of view or qualifications

Peters:  I would encourage everyone to go to our website at www. B-PAC.org and find out where we stand on every issue that affects the library. If you have a question that you don’t see an answer to, write to us and we’ll be happy to answer. If you agree that the people who spend your money have to be accountable to you, if you agree that you already pay enough in your taxes for library services, if you want a board who maintains the excellent librarians that we currently have, if you want accountability and credibility in the library proceedings, then please vote for all four of the members of B-PAC, Paul Berg, Catherine Peters, Mark Albers and David Calimag on April 5. It is the only way to take back control of the library and put it back into the hands of the people of Morton Grove.