Dear Allen County Public Library Board of Trustees,

We, the book-loving, tax-paying patrons of the ACPL, request that you publicly address the dramatic changes in our library system that have resulted in:

• The purging of vast amounts of materials from the collection. Large numbers of books have disappeared from our library, nationally recognized for its impressive collection. Estimates vary as to the exact number, but what we do know is bookshelves are empty and library book sales have been full. https://www.in.gov/library/plstats.htm

• A change in philosophy from a collection that met a wide array of interests and intellectual endeavors to a popular materials model* whose focus is on the most high-interest, high-demand, high-circulating materials. This focus is at the expense of a collection carefully developed and curated over the past 124 years.

• The library staff being put under a board-approved gag order on 5/25/2017, creating a work environment that has allowed for NO input on this change in philosophy from ACPL staff and the community for whom they work and whose interests they seek to protect.
Portions of that Ethics policy read: “Employees, officers and Trustees will not engage in conduct or activity that may raise questions as to the library’s honesty, impartiality or reputation or otherwise cause embarrassment to the organization. Employees will avoid any action, whether or not specifically prohibited in human resources policies, which might result in or reasonably be expected to create an appearance of… Adversely affecting the confidence of the public in the integrity of ACPL... Violations of this policy are subject to discipline up to and including termination of employment.”
https://documents.acpl.lib.in.us/docs/2896.pdf (Ethics)

• Community tax dollars being used to fund these drastic changes, ALL without the community's awareness, input or buy-in.

Fort Wayne is special, in part, because of the Allen County Public Library, a rich and honored resource and one of the crown jewels of this city.

With this petition, we respectfully request that the ACPL Board of Trustees address these concerns, put a stop to the irreparable damage that has been done, and rescind the sections referenced above from the Ethics document in favor of an open and respectful conversation among ACPL staff, the board, and the public regarding the discarding of the collection.

*Note: A popular materials model is often adopted for small library systems with limited space. But when the ACPL branches and main building were remodeled, with the tax-paying public's commitment via petitions, storage space was forefront in the architects' minds. In accordance with ACPL’s sizable collection and taxpayer wishes, enough storage space was created for the entire collection, with room to grow.