BROOKINGS — It’s not often that a supplemental budget resolution draws attention, but when a small part of it involves $15,000 in county money for the Brookings Public Library, that mixes things up a bit.
That’s because the Brookings County Commission wants some form of representation or a voice on the library’s board of trustees in exchange for the funding. The $15,000 is part of the county’s overall $25,000 library commitment this year, which means county residents living outside the Brookings city limits don’t have to pay for their library cards.
It hasn’t received that representation yet, and so the makeup of the library’s board — along with some concerns about its materials from one commissioner — was discussed at the commission’s April 21 meeting.
“When we discussed the library funding earlier, there was some indication that there were verbal commitments or what with library board positions,” Commissioner Doug Post said. “How did that exactly all end up?”
“Well, I know we talked about it and requested it,” Commissioner Shawn Hostler said. “Who appoints to that library board?”
South Dakota law mandates that libraries have a board of trustees comprised of five members. Those members are appointed by the local government — in this case, according to the BPL’s website, by Brookings Mayor Oepke “Ope” Niemeyer, where they serve three-year terms.
The library’s board of trustees meets every month on the second Thursday after the first Monday at 11:45 a.m. in the library’s Historical Room. The meetings are open to the public.
“I don’t think there’s anything saying that we can’t ask — I don’t know if we’ve ever done a formal ask to add, for example, an ex-officio nonvoting member to that board,” Commission Department Director Stacy Steffensen said. “I don’t know if we’ve put that official request out to that.”
That doesn’t mean one of the five voting members would be out, since a sixth representative, the ex-officio member, would be, as Steffensen said, nonvoting in nature.
The county originally set aside $10,000 in library funding for 2026 during June budget discussions last year, a reduction of $15,000 from its typical amount. The full amount was restored in December following debate — sometimes quite animated — involving the public, commissioners and library representatives to avoid a fee for county residents.
“We have other boards that we give that amount to that we are provided a board seat, membership, correct?” Hostler asked. “Are there other areas or other boards that we do like — I know domestic abuse shelter; we have a board seat on there.”
Steffensen said other local entities where the county has representation include Margo’s Place domestic abuse shelter, Brookings Area Transit Authority, an ex-officio spot on the Brookings Health System board of trustees, and the boards of directors for the SDSU Research Park and the Brookings Regional Growth Alliance.
“I just ask because I remember that being part of the discussion was that, when they were here to present, then we asked — that was part of what we had discussed, was some type of more of an update, information and a avenue to have a little bit more of ‘what’s going on here?’ if we’re going to give money,” Post said.
He then did a 180-degree pivot to focus on library materials.
“On top of that, I received several comments in the last couple weeks about some of the materials that are available — and actually promoted to our youth — that many people don’t seem appropriate to taxpayer funding,” Post said. “(It) borders on the obscene in many cases, and so I see some concern in using taxpayer dollars to promote that, in my opinion.”
Other commissioners quickly returned their attention to representation.
“So, what would we need to do to a formal request?” Commissioner Larry Jensen inquired. “A letter to their board?”
“Yes, I would draft a formal request to have — probably an ex-officio member on that board to start receiving agendas and items,” Steffensen said.
“I think it would probably be a good thing to do is formally request, at minimum, (an) ex-officio position based on the level of funding that we’ve given historically,” Hostler said.
The motion passed on a 4-1 vote, with Post being the sole dissenter.
Beyond the $15,000 for the library, the supplemental budget resolution provides the remaining funding for the Samara Avenue project in Volga of $219,172.85; additional funding for Rural Access Infrastructure Fund estimated at $300,000; and, finally, $600,000 to help cover the remaining costs, which are being shared with the city, for an HVAC project at the Brookings City & County Government Center.
— Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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