Only in The Chronicle: Both sides in Rockwell Falls Library fight

By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer

A series of resignations has left the Rockwell Falls Library Board of Trustees in Lake Luzerne with two members, less than the three needed for a quorum. Now, the New York State Board of Regents will step in and pick three additional board members after an initial application process run by the Southern Adirondack Library System [SALS], that oversees the Library.

The Library has been rocked in turmoil since it planned, and then cancelled, a Drag Queen Story Hour last spring.

Its doors have been closed since September due to staff resignations, including Director Courtney Keir.

Kathleen Jones’s board resignation prompted the state intervention. She said she did it seeking this outcome.

Ms. Jones told The Chronicle that she “consulted with a lawyer and with Sara Dallas [SALS Director] prior to my resignation, and I knew what would happen when I resigned,” she said.

The two remaining library Trustees are Josh Jacquard and Jason Hall.

In a May election for two seats, Mr. Jacquard finished first with 279 votes. Ms. Jones won the second seat with 187 votes.

Mr. Hall, a write-in campaign, finished third. He did not win a seat, but was later appointed after another trustee resigned.

Ms. Jones says, “I could plainly see the writing on the wall how it was going to be with myself thanks to these two gentlemen.”

Ms. Jones said she believes the state should take over the process.

“They basically take the choosing of the trustees out of the library’s hands. They receive the applications,” she said.

“It’s a more detailed process than just appointing somebody. There’s an actual application. A résumé is needed, letters of reference. So I knew that the Board of Regents would be objective.

“And there would be no opportunity for either Mr. Jacquard or Mr. Hall to veto the applicant that was selected.”

Last week, an informational meeting at the Library about the SALS appointment process quickly became contentious, as audience members shouted criticisms at Mr. Jacquard. The meeting at times turned into a chaotic back-and-forth.

After the meeting, several onlookers got into an altercation, resulting in a call to the Warren County Sheriff’s Office.

Ms. Jones blames Mr. Jacquard for much of the library’s ills.

Ms. Jones says, “When you get sick, it’s good if you can trace the germ back to the source. And I am not the germ.”

She said, “The germ is a certain person on the board, Josh Jacquard.”

Ms. Jones said of her issues with Mr. Jacquard, “I would start with his aggressive behaviors towards patrons of the library, towards other trustees.”

Asked for specifics, she said, “just his mannerisms and dealing with the public and his inability to accept that he is part of the problem.”

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Mr. Jacquard spoke to The Chronicle, but emphasized that he was speaking for himself and not on behalf of the Library.

He said he was “shocked” by the earlier October resignations of Trustees Kathleen Mitchell and Janet Silburn.

He added, “I understand why they resigned. And I don’t hold anything against them. I don’t know Kathleen Mitchell that well. She was a pleasure to work with.”

Mr. Jacquard said, “Janet Silburn proved to be exactly what the library needed at that moment. She was neutral. She had a backbone, and she didn’t care about any side, she was willing to tell people how she felt. I thought she did a good job of leading,” he said.

The Chronicle asked Mr. Jacquard about the accusations of “harassment” and “bullying” made against him.

Mr. Jacquard said, “I’ve heard that loud and clear. And my reaction to that is my reaction to every filthy name I have been called since the get go.”

“Show me some proof. Show me the proof of your allegations,” he said.

Of the contentious informational meeting, he said, “Let’s be frank, that meeting was a mess.

“But what are the positives? One of the qualities of that meeting that we haven’t typically had is a dialogue,” he said.

Mr. Jacquard said, “If you’re going to make a claim, then support it with facts. If you’re going to call me a bully, then tell me what I was doing that was bullying.”

Mr. Jacquard believes his goals for the library are supported by the public.

“If there was an election held today, I believe firmly that I would win again — because the objectives that I ran on that first time, the same objectives I hold today, they are the same things that would get the votes out there every single time.”

He said he seeks “to have age appropriate content and books. That is something in our community, in the Hadley Luzerne School District are going to widely agree upon” and “to have a library director that is looking out for the best interests of the library.”

He said most community members don’t want to comment publicly about the library and then “go out and get harassed, or they have to go out and face a death threat — because that’s what consistently happens to these people.”

“They won’t want to deal with those things, but they will have an opportunity to vote,” he said. “The people in this community will get a chance to speak again.”

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Ms. Jones, a retired teacher, said she initially ran for office because of “the controversy over the drag queen story hour and some of the statements community members were making.

“I firmly believe in intellectual freedom. I believe that everybody should have the opportunity to — I don’t want to say perform — but the uproar that was caused by that Drag Queen Story Hour was quite one-sided,” she said.

“I felt that the library needed somebody who had a different point of view.”

She said Mr. Jacquard thwarted her attempts to pass several resolutions, and her attempt to bring on a new Trustee.

One resolution he rejected, she said, had involved book banning.

The Chronicle asked Mr. Jacquard about book banning.

Mr. Jacquard said, “They try to tie me to that. I’ve never called for a banning of books. My philosophy, my approach, to the situation is, we need age appropriate placement of books. We need age appropriate purchasing of books.

“Just because the author says the book is for five years old and up doesn’t mean that it’s appropriate for five years old and up,” he said. “It’s possible that books that talk about sexual activity are not appropriate for five year olds,” he added.

The Chronicle asked, has Mr. Jacquard found any books in Rockwell Falls Public Library that be believes should not be there? “I’ve never called for a book to be taken out of the library. And I wouldn’t, because I think the Supreme Court has been pretty clear on that. I believe in the rule of law,” he said.

“What I do believe is there’s books in the teen section and the children’s section that should be moved to more age appropriate locations,” he said.

Mr. Jacquard said, “I get my faith attacked all the time. And I’ve never preached once. I’ve never talked about God once from a library standpoint….

“I’ve never sat behind that table at a meeting and preached to anyone. I’ve never had public comments on anything to do with the library and talked about God, or pushed a Christian worldview. I’ve never done that,” he said.

“I don’t necessarily think it’s appropriate for me to do that. The people didn’t elect me to preach, the people elected me to represent them.”

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