Sugar Grove Library Friends
Disbands in Protest

Library Board’s Firing of Director Holmes-Hughes Prompts Friends Organization’s Withdrawal of Support

SUGAR GROVE, IL – August 22, 2011 – Pat Graceffa, President of the Sugar Grove Library Friends – an important financial support organization for the Sugar Grove Library – recently announced that the group would disband. The decision came after the Library Board of Trustees’ July 14th firing of long-time Director Beverly Holmes-Hughes. Four Board Trustees – Joan Roth, Art Morrical, Julie Wilson and Bob Bergman – voted for the firing while two Trustees voted against the termination.

The decision to disband the Library Friends was made at the group’s August 8th meeting and Mrs. Graceffa made the formal announcement during public comment at the August 11th Sugar Grove Library Board of Trustees.  According to Mrs. Graceffa’s formal statement:

“Trustees Roth, Morrical, Wilson and Bergman have said that they want the Sugar Grove Library to go in a new direction, but at no time in the past month have they felt compelled to share this new direction with the public.”

Mrs. Graceffa’s statement continued:

“Because the Sugar Grove Library Friends were moving in the same direction as former Library Director Hughes, we assume we are part of the problem which caused the termination of the Director. Therefore, it was decided at the Friends’ August 8th, 2011 meeting that the current Friends group will be disbanding.”

In addition to her formal statement to the Board Trustees, Mrs. Graceffa provided detailed documentation showing that the Friends contributed in excess of $82,828.50 in financial support to the Sugar Grove Library in the last fiscal year, largely through the organization’s revenues and donated hours. Additional support comes from book donations that the group manages and from other donated reading materials owned by the group.

The Library Friends will honor 2011 commitments and continue financial support for Library programming until the end of the year but will discontinue staffing and managing the used book store on August 31, 2011.

Several former Friends – some having volunteered valuable hours for over 10 years – have voiced their frustration at the Library Board of Trustees during the public comments section of the Board meetings in July and August. Mrs. Graceffa says the Friends question how the Board of Trustees will pay for legal fees, search firm costs, the interim director’s salary, and the new director’s salary increase. “Those are funds that could’ve been going towards buying books, buying DVDs, having programs…I just don’t think this was well thought out,” said Mrs. Graceffa about the Library Board of Trustees’ supposed “new direction.”

The Sugar Grove Library Friends is a not for profit organization supporting the ever growing needs of the Sugar Grove Public Library. Our mission is to strengthen our library and ensure the continued improvement of library services. As an all-volunteer organization, the Sugar Grove Library Friends depend greatly on the support of its members to fulfill our mission. The Sugar Grove Library Friends encourage the entire library district to realize the benefits that our library has to offer and participate! Through the generosity of volunteers and donors, our organization helps contribute to the long-term success of the library. The Sugar Grove Library Friends have tax-exempt status under Section 501 (C) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.