Ada County Commissioners Hear Testimony on Dissolution of Current Meridian Library District

By Sarah Clendenon • March 21, 2023

Ada County Commissioners heard testimony Monday night related to a petition to dissolve the Meridian Library District.

Photo by David Pettinger, Idaho Dispatch

A group called Concerned Citizens of Meridian created and brought forth the petition because of multiple concerns and complaints, one of which is the availability of certain books and materials to children in Meridian libraries.

The group has asked in the petition that,

“Upon dissolution of the Meridian Library District, we ask that the Ada County Commissioners appoint an interim board of trustees to re-organize the library entity in order to re-instate the public discourse and comments, change the bylaws to decrease the trustee terms to three years and segregate sexually explicit material from access by minors.”

Petition-for-Dissolution-of-Meridian-Library-Dist

Written testimony received by the Commission can be viewed here: Meridian Library District Petition – Commissioners

To view the entire four-hour Monday night hearing, see here: https://fb.watch/jp2Y2UeU31/ or here: (67) Public Hearing on Citizen’s Petition to Dissolve the Meridian Library District – March 20, 2023 – YouTube

At the conclusion of the hearing, Commissioner Ryan Davidson spoke to the Idaho Dispatch with a quick recap:

Commissioner Davidson – Hearing on Meridian Library District Dissolution – March 20, 2023 (rumble.com)

Because several hundred people attended the hearing and want to be heard on this issue, the Commissioners will reconvene for an additional hearing Wednesday, March 22 at 6pm at the Ada County Courthouse. Only those who signed up to speak on Monday night will be heard on Wednesday, but the public is invited to attend or watch online at (67) Ada County, Idaho – YouTube. The public is also invited to comment via email at bocc1@adacounty.id.gov.