T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Marshalltown Public Library Youth Services Manager Joa LaVille, and Director Sarah Rosenblum, right, address the city council during Monday night’s meeting about selling the bookmobile known as MOBI, which was purchased in 2023. The council ultimately voted 5-2 to proceed with selling it.

After another fairly lengthy discussion about the fate of the Marshalltown Public Library’s Bookmobile, better known as MOBI, the city council voted 5-2 to move forward with selling it less than two years after it was purchased during Monday night’s meeting.

Two weeks ago, MPL Director Sarah Rosenblum explained that primarily due to staffing and funding challenges — particularly, the loss of a special standalone levy due to the passage of House File 718 — the library board had made the difficult decision to discontinue the rollout of the vehicle last summer and cease operations.

Rosenblum again came before the council to answer questions about the memo attached to the council packet, and this time, she was flanked by Youth Services Manager Joa LaVille. Councilor Greg Nichols asked about the operational costs of such vehicles in other communities, and Rosenblum said she had “a long discussion” with library personnel in Iowa City about their bookmobile.

The bare minimum required to get MOBI up and running again, according to Rosenblum, would be the restoration of the part-time outreach coordinator position and two other part-time positions. An estimate provided in the council packet pegged the annual operational cost at approximately $122,000. Councilor Mike Ladehoff then commented that he hated to see the vehicle go but felt it was time to cut it loose.

“We just don’t have the staff. I understand the thought of volunteers, but the truth of the matter is it will take librarians and assistants to load it, unload it, figure out what’s going on, going to the sites, and we just don’t have those people, even though the volunteers would be helping, and we’re not going to have the staff to be able to do it,” he said.

He subsequently motioned to proceed with selling MOBI (it was only a discussion item, not a resolution), which received a second from Councilor Jeff Schneider. Conversely, Councilor Gary Thompson noted that the vehicle was bought and paid for with only 1,700 miles on it, and he made the assumption that Rosenblum was close to retirement, which drew a rebuke from Mayor Joel Greer.

“You don’t get to ask questions like that,” he said.

Nonetheless, Thompson felt it would be foolish to sell MOBI if a new director came along and formulated a plan to put the vehicle to work.

“I would rather see it put in storage at the public works building. I don’t think we’re gonna get any less money in two to five years than we’re gonna get for it today, so I would prefer to see us keep it,” he said.

Councilor Mark Mitchell agreed that the vehicle should be kept in the city’s hands and reiterated his case for volunteers operating it, reporting that he has already heard from individuals who are interested. LaVille then responded by tracing the history of the situation, which started with a grant during the COVID pandemic and the purchase of MOBI in the summer of 2023, and noted that the library already utilizes many volunteers.

“The library levy being taken happened in the fall of 2023, and we started to talk about being closed a day and we took a hard look. Believe me, no one cares about library service or the community than people that work at the library,” she said.

From there, library staff examined the options that would create “the least pain” for the public and made the decision based on that criteria, LaVille said. She disputed the assertion that the vehicle wouldn’t lose value the longer it sat in storage and felt the course of action proposed would be the best way to recoup as much of the cost, which was around $200,000, as possible.

“It’s a beautiful vehicle. It was very exciting when we got it. It was not fun to get rid of it. We made that decision, and the Friends (of the Library) and the Library Board were onboard in 2024 in June,” LaVille said. “And by no fault of anyone specific, just the way things unfolded, that decision was put on pause.”

Driving the vehicle, she added, is not the primary issue, but rather loading it with a curated collection and unloading it. LaVille did not feel it was feasible for volunteers to manage any city service, including those the library offers. Most of the volunteers are retirees and teenagers, and she said the library did not suffer from a lack of volunteers but rather a lack of the time it takes to manage and support them.

Going forward, she conceded that MOBI could be used a few times a year but felt that would be irresponsible due to the ongoing maintenance costs. LaVille also cited the loss of a longtime intern as another factor in the decision.

Councilor Barry Kell commented that the service MOBI provides is more important than the vehicle itself, and a U-Haul could be rented for $20 a day.

“The reality of where some of this conversation’s going is I’m not any better prepared or well-suited to tell you how to run the library as I am the fire department or the police department. You are the experts. You are telling us what is feasible to be most effective and to reach the most amount of people as possible. I think we need to heed that advice,” he said. “Yes, the vehicle is paid for. The projections are (that) this is a six-figure sale. That’s not an insignificant amount of money, so I would defer to our library director and their leadership on the best proposal of their time and resources.”

Nichols then asked about grant funding and how the proceeds of a sale would be distributed as the city and the Friends of the Library each made substantial contributions, and Rosenblum replied that the library was “efficient and frugal” in its spending. She felt it would be fair to split the money between the entities proportionately and put the money back into the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) fund.

Referencing the recent Healthy Families Fair, Rosenblum said another organization struggled to attract volunteers to its booth.

“Volunteers are wonderful, and I intend to volunteer when I do retire at all kinds of things, but volunteers are not employees. They’re not paid. They don’t have to show up on a beautiful day like today,” she said. “You can’t run a service on volunteers, but on the other hand, volunteers do enhance many of our community services.”

Councilor Melisa Fonseca expressed her preference for moving forward with the sale based on the information presented, and LaVille noted that during a past Healthy Families Fair, they had planned to set up MOBI until inclement weather changed their plans. Ultimately, they set up a table with books they give away, and they ended up doing the same thing last weekend.

“There’s a lot of outreach that we still are doing, and the only thing different about that was how the books got there,” she said.

Thompson asked City Administrator Carol Webb if the city would be legally obligated to pay back the friends for their portion of the purchase, and she felt it would be the right thing to do. If the vehicle was kept, Thompson didn’t think it would necessarily have to be used by the library, but he described MOBI as a $200,000 asset with a box truck and lift gate that could be put to work elsewhere.

If the vehicle sold for $100,000, he added, the city may only recoup something like $60,000 once the brokerage took its percentage and the Friends were repaid. Webb noted that Rosenblum had reached out to the leaders of other city departments, and none had an interest — though other entities like the school district may have use for it.

Councilor Jeff Schneider respectfully disagreed with Thompson’s description of the vehicle as an asset and instead called it a liability.

“It would be nice to be able to use it, but I just don’t see the environment coming back anytime soon where we’re gonna be able to staff this,” he said. “In order for a new director to use this, it’s almost like you’re implying the library will have to shut down. I don’t know where we’re gonna find the money otherwise, so I think we sell this. Hopefully we get a good dollar amount and it can go to good use somewhere else.”

Mitchell asked Schneider what a fair value would be and said hypothetically, they may only be offered $50 for the vehicle. He responded that the city should test the market and see what comes in before making a decision.

Friends of the Library Treasurer Rebecca Rutishauser submitted a written comment read by City Clerk Alicia Hunter offering the organization’s support for Rosenblum and her staff’s recommendation to sell the vehicle, adding that some of the accessories the Friends bought can still be used at the library and won’t require reimbursement.

With no in-person public comments, the motion to proceed with selling MOBI passed by a 5-2 tally with Mitchell and Thompson opposed. Nichols then asked if a minimum price would be set for the sale, and Rosenblum and Webb said they would discuss the matter further in the future.