“This decision was not made lightly. There was a lot of discussion among my team, discussion with the Friends (of the Library) and the library board did vote last June 18, 2024, the board did vote, with great regret, as they said (to discontinue the rollout of MOBI),” she said. “I did talk to all the city departments. Police and fire actually went out to look at the vehicle, and none of the departments felt that the vehicle would be something they could use.”

In response to questions that Councilor Gary Thompson had emailed before the meeting, Rosenblum said the city contributed about $146,595 to the purchase of MOBI, while the Friends had given about $43,542 and paid just over $13,000 for the consulting firm the library used. When discussing state legislative changes over the last four years, including the consolidation of special levies under House File 718, she said MPL leadership would never have set out on the journey to acquire MOBI if they had known “the rug would be pulled out from underneath us.”

She also commented that outreach didn’t necessarily have to revolve around the vehicle itself and said the staff had learned some “amazing” lessons through the process.

“We still make a number of visits to schools. We deliver to the individual nursing homes. We will certainly be at all the events. We’re at the Healthy Family Fair and all types of things. None of those things will go away. All of those things will continue to happen,” Rosenblum said.

Marshalltown Public Library Director Sarah Rosenblum addresses the city council about the future of the mobile outreach vehicle known as MOBI during Monday night’s meeting. The council voted unanimously to explore various options before making a decision on whether or not to sell it. In June of 2024, the Library’s board of trustees voted to discontinue its rollout, citing staffing and financial concerns.

She reiterated that the overall budget outlook remains difficult, and she doesn’t foresee it improving in the future.

“I may be wrong. I would love to be wrong,” she said.

Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Mike Ladehoff asked if a lack of staffing to operate MOBI was the primary reason for the decision, and Rosenblum responded that it was one of several factors, including the departure of the part-time outreach coordinator (the position has not been filled since) and unexpected weather events. Councilor Melisa Fonseca wondered if a resale value had been determined for MOBI, and Rosenblum said she had worked with Specialty Vehicle Services when she worked at different libraries in the past.

Leadership at the Burlington Library has reached out about leasing it, she added, because they’re worried about potentially having to close their building altogether. Fonseca asked if plans to acquire MOBI were developed before the pandemic or after, and Rosenblum said that with the amount of federal money being distributed at the time, they looked into various expansion options including a branch location or a book vending machine like the one in the Valley Junction area of West Des Moines before settling on MOBI.

Fonseca additionally asked about which events MOBI was present at, and Rosenblum said they went to the 2023 Bee Ridiculous Days downtown and several other events as part of a “slow rollout” but only put 1,700 miles on it in total including the trip back from Ohio, where it was manufactured.

“It’s just been a really hard journey for us. I’ve had a lot of really mixed feelings and a lot of sleepless nights about this,” she said.

Nonetheless, Fonseca felt the MOBI effort had “amazing” intentions. Councilor Mark Mitchell suggested that if Rosenblum and the board of trustees reconsidered their position on subscribing to The Epoch Times and The American Rifleman, volunteers like himself would be more likely to step up and run MOBI.

The director responded that city policy does not allow volunteers to drive city vehicles, and Mitchell said individuals could simply be hired for a penny and be covered.

“It sounds like an interesting idea, but there’s a lot more than just driving. It’s not like driving an ice cream truck, and I’m not disparaging ice cream truck (drivers). There’s a lot to providing library service and the things that go along with the bookmobile,” she said. “Like I said, the bookmobile is a tool, and it’s a lovely tool, but it’s just a tool. It’s the paid, trained staff that really bring that service to the level that we want to give to our community.”

Mitchell felt his idea should be taken back to the library board as a means of “taking care of everybody’s needs in this town.” Thompson said the council’s hands were tied as the board of trustees possesses independent spending authority and questioned whether the vehicle was a city asset or a library asset.

Rosenblum responded that the city held the title, and City Administrator Carol Webb added that it was purchased primarily with Capital Improvement Plan dollars. In response to another question from Thompson, Webb said the proportional amounts that came from the city and the Friends would go back to those respective entities once the vehicle is sold.

“I’m struggling with this because its first event was in July of 2023, and in less than a year, the library board… June 24, 2024, the board said ‘Talk to the council about getting (rid of it).’ You had it less than a year. This is a $200,000 trial,” Thompson said. “I guess where I am is (that) it’s a brand new vehicle. I’d hate to see us sell it and take pennies on the dollar, so where I’m at is we as the city, or you as the library, need to figure out how to put this to work.”

Councilor Barry Kell described the reality of the situation as “unfortunate” and referenced the passage of HF718, but he added that every day they delay selling the vehicle will only decrease its value further.

“Whether we decide to sell it or not, I think it would be prudent for us to see what options there are and to move forward down that path. And then once we know a dollar amount or we know the tangible results of what’s available, then we make the decision,” he said.

Ladehoff’s understanding of the situation was that the board initially just instructed Rosenblum to stop using the vehicle temporarily, but with the changes in state law, they ultimately decided moving on would make more sense. She again explained that the outreach position went unfilled and predicted further staffing cuts to come as budgets get tighter and revenues drop, noting the agony she felt over the decision.

“Don’t apologize. I think we’re gonna be having more of these conversations in future years,” Ladehoff said.

During the public comment period, Marco Yepez Gomez took issue with Mitchell’s comment about The Epoch Times and called it a “pretty stupid” issue that shouldn’t be legitimized. He also felt much of the current situation could be attributed to the actions of the state legislature. Dave Grieve, who had recently traveled to California for the funeral of his aunt, a longtime librarian, said there were a lot of rich people in the state who donate things “all the time” and hoped more wealthy people in Marshalltown would step up to do the same.

Fonseca motioned to direct staff to gather data on the market value of the vehicle as well as options on staffing, wages and what it would take to get MOBI running and successful again and information on whether volunteers could get involved to see what the return on investment (ROI) is before the city lets it go.

“It’s already been bought. It’s owned. We need to see what it can do and brainstorm on its best use moving forward,” Fonseca said. “I don’t think selling it at this point is necessary until we look at that, just how Councilman Kell said as well.”

Thompson weighed in that volunteers, like reserve police officers, could operate city vehicles if they were hired for $1 a year and under the insurance policy, and Mitchell called the idea “a pretty good one” and felt any of the city councilors could step up to help. Police Chief Chris Jones said reserve officers were paid $1 a year and covered for liability, but true volunteers who participate in reserve programs cannot operate city vehicles.

Fonseca’s motion passed by a unanimous 7-0 tally.