A roofing repair with an initial price tag of $75,000 two years ago has spiraled into a $366,668 project with Carnegie Library leaders once again asking the city and county to foot the bill.
The Carnegie Library board of trustees reported a leaking roof in 2020 and an insurance claim of $69,000 was paid to fix it. In July of this year Library Board Chairman Shelia Winters and new Librarian Tracy Caradine went before the city and county saying their architect had prepared a two-phase project to repair both the historic and main building at $660,000.
Both the city and county balked at that amount.
Supervisors were told last week that Phase I would repair decking put architectural shingles and flashing on the Library Addition for $225,201. Phase II would cost $141,485, repair masonry and put a sloped roof on the Historic Library.
Library officials have said the initial quote was only to patch the roof. Caradine has also said the library is having problems with the air conditioner.
This summer the county said it would help pay for half the cost of repairs but wanted a detailed breakdown of costs and what the city was paying. Supervisors were told the city’s portion would come to about $149,000.
The City of Clarksdale owns the library and the county assists in funding programs, payroll and library services.
The county has reported a projected $1.2 million reduction in revenue for next year because of decreased property values and has repeatedly turned away individuals and organizations seeking repairs and funding for their projects.
Caradine was told in July the city had not budgeted for repairs at the library this year and any funding would have come out of next year’s budget.
The library has a revenue budget that gets about $357,000 from the city and $354,000 from the county.
The library has a projected 2022-23 budget of $828,553. In 2012-13 the library had a budget of $622,359 with the county contributing $190,500 and the city $228,611.
The library has been a point of concern for both the city and county who had a hard time getting hard numbers from the library during the last budget year.
Differences between the library board and its librarians have seen three librarians over the past three years.
Former Carnegie Public Library librarian Floyd Council resigned in 2021 after only a few months as the library’s director. Council, a career librarian, cited violations by Library Board Chairman Shelia Winters in micro-managing the library and Winters’ desire to control employees and money at the library. Council is currently the librarian for the Jackson/Hinds County Library.
CITY AND COUNTY LIBRARY BOARD APPOINTEES
At Large (Mayor Chuck Espy) – Jacqueline Tyler.
Ward 1 (Bo Plunk) – Vacant since Sept.
Ward 2 (Ken Murphey) – Chris Coleman.
Ward 3 (Willie Turner) – Joyce Hill.
Ward 4 (Ed Seals) – Rita Hanfor.
The City of Clarksdale levies a tax for the Library that raises approximately $238,000.
Dist. 1 Supervisor (Paul Pearson) - Nancy Foley.
Dist. 2 Supervisor (Pat Davis) - Lesley Johnson.
Dist. 3 Supervisor (Derrell Washington) LaFiesta Roland.
Dist. 4 Supervisor (Johnny Newson) - Shelia Winters.
Dist. 5 Supervisor (Roosevelt Lee) - Michella Campbell.
Coahoma County levies a 2 mill tax for the Library that raises approximately $360,000.
