Two members of the Tallahatchie County Library Board of Trustees have stepped down, and county library director Vicki Wood reportedly has announced her intention to do so soon.
Longtime library board members Lori Criswell and Marilynn Lynch tendered letters of resignation at the regularly scheduled April 18 meeting of the library board in Charleston, with both listing April 19 as the effective date. No reason was given in their brief letters.
“I have been a member of the library board for many years and I enjoyed serving as a volunteer,” Criswell wrote.
One trustee is appointed to the library board by each of the five members of the Tallahatchie County Board of Supervisors.
Criswell was a District 1 appointee and Lynch, District 3. There has been no library board member from District 2 since 2015, when the incumbent was not reappointed due to a long-term illness.
Miranda Hubbard still serves from District 4 and Tracey Rosebud, District 5.
Johnny Goodwin, president of the Board of Supervisors, said Tuesday that he attended last week’s meeting at the Charleston library, during which he was told that Wood “has resigned also ... [effective] at the end of May.”
“My understanding is she has not turned in a letter of resignation to date, but she made it verbal the night of the meeting and also she talked with the board members after the meeting or in executive session and made them aware of that,” Goodwin added.
Wood did not immediately respond to a telephone message and email from The Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday.
Due to financial concerns, the library board recently voted to shut down the Charleston and Tutwiler libraries as of May 31.
Goodwin, however, said the libraries are operating on their regular schedule at this time.
The Board of Supervisors has a special meeting set for 2 p.m. Thursday (April 27) in the courtroom of the Tallahatchie County Courthouse in Sumner to discuss the library situation.
“We have asked someone from the Mississippi Library Commission to be there and answer some questions we have as to what we can and cannot do at this time,” said Goodwin. “After Thursday, we’ll have more knowledge.”
Goodwin added that supervisors plan to appoint three new members to the library board in the near future.
The new members, he noted, could then “rescind [the May 31 closure order for the libraries] and carry on business as usual.”
“I certainly want to see the libraries open,” Goodwin said. “Like everything else, it’s vital to these small towns.”
