The consideration of a joint venture agreement for the Greeneville/Greene County Public Library, between the City of Greeneville and Greene County, was tabled at the City Council meeting due to concerns with the agreement.
The joint venture agreement has been in the works for over eight years, according to City Manager Todd Smith. He said it’s a layout structure and government oversight for the library. Councilwoman Ginny Kidwell, whose service with the Library Board began in 1999, had a few reasons as to why the agreement should be tabled. She believed it should be revised due to some of the language and wanted to make sure the agreement was not only fair for the library and employees, but that the county was meeting the city half way when it came to funding.
Councilman Scott Bullington also was concerned with the funding not being equal between the county and the city. A motion was made by Kidwell, who also volunteered to take the lead on fixing the agreement. She will be gathering a group to discuss ways to make the venture more equal, get county partners involved, and look at long term changes.
Library Director Erin Evans expressed to the council the library needs to be funded adequately. Fundraising is constantly done just to make enough to get by, according to Evans. Kidwell is hoping to be able to make some adjustments that will address the funding issue. As she stated, “you can’t have a great community if you do not have a great library.”
