By Stephen Smoot
The Pendleton County Commission met last week and worked on a light agenda that centered around the county library and the 911 service.
Commissioner Roger Dahmer opened the meeting with the customary invocation, asking to “guide our words, our thoughts, and our actions.”
Karen Pitsenbarger, county administrator, gave a report on the installing of new security measures at the Pendleton County Courthouse. A metal detector has arrived in the courthouse for the Walnut Street entrance. This will eventually be the sole point of entry into the courthouse.
Pitsenbarger stated that the remaining entry points will need doors that lock, but are also fitted with a “panic device” that would allow use in case of emergency. She said that “it will be at least a week or two to get the new doors in.”
Next the commission recognized Walt Johnson, executive director of the Pendleton County Library.
“I do want to thank you gentlemen for the opportunity to come here,” Johnson began.
He came to provide a six month update on the job done since he took the position, which included explaining his philosophy of what a library represents in the modern age, and sharing some of the library’s plans moving forward.
Johnson described “two fundamental facets” of any library’s mission, which are “foundational and aspirational.” Foundational, he said, refers to “brick and mortar stuff,” such as the building, the collections, and other tangible materials that make up, or are used by, the library.
Foundational services, Johnson explained, allow access to collections and also “technology folks might not have at home,” such as document printing, scanning, copying, and other “baseline services the library has to provide.”
Johnson shared that he used the word “aspirational” to represent “the spirit of the library,” especially since as time has passed “the library mission has broadened out.” It has, in the past generation or two, evolved into “an advocate for human intellect, the very spark of human creativity,” and a place that serves as a catalyst for “the desire people have to be more than who they are.”
Limited resources, however, mean that a library must wisely strike a balance between the two roles that serve each as effectively as possible.
Johnson emphasized that “we don’t want to take anything away that we’re already doing well,” explaining that he wanted to build on the success of the past, not change it.
Then he asked a rhetorical question of “how do we get to where we need to be?”
Johnson’s answer lay in combining strategic and tactical style approaches. Strategic thinking centers on the long term questions, such as “what do we want the library to be in 10 years?” Tactical planning “is very much the step by step by step work in concert with the strategic vision.” He shared that tactical planning and work looks at the short term, no more than one or two years.
Moving forward in the near term, Johnson announced a “much more robust summer reading program” as a springboard to increased numbers and differences in programming. His goal lies in having one adult and one children’s oriented program per month.
He added that he also hopes to someday see “everybody checking the library schedule regularly to make sure they don’t miss something cool.” Johnson then thanked commissioners for the support given in the past and requested that it be maintained.
Next, Diana Mitchell, director of Pendleton County 911, gave commissioners a request for a new road name. The road, which after the commission’s approval will don the moniker “Hoot ‘N Holler Lane,” will connect a small series of cabins in the North Fork area.
Carl Hevener, Pendleton County Commission president, wryly noted that “a former deputy asked for that.”
Rick Gillespie, Pendleton County Emergency Services coordinator, next provided an update on efforts to fill out the county’s roster of 911 telecommunicators. After an interview process involving himself, Pitsenbarger, and Mitchell, the team settled on offering Jared Flynn a full-time position and Stacie Bennett part time.
Amber Nesselrodt, Pendleton County Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director, informed the county commission of the imminent arrival of Paul Kiernan. Kiernan spent 11 years covering Latin America and now writes on business, economics, government policy, and public policy.
He plans to write a feature on Pendleton County’s growing tourism economy.
Finally, Pitsenbarger offered an update on the progress of the courthouse annex, sharing that she held daily discussions with the West Virginia State Supreme Court of Appeals, who insists on weighing in on the placement of furniture.
