OPINION: Is ‘Hygiene Equity’ the Mission of the Library?

By Johnny Kincaid

This week, County Commission President Justin Elpers sent a letter to Evansville Vanderburgh Library CEO R. Scott Kinney asking that machines dispensing free tampons and pads be removed from men’s restrooms at public libraries.

Elpers letter stated that the cost of purchasing, installing, and stocking the machines “represent an unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer dollars.” Elpers’ letter did not address whether it was appropriate to place women’s hygiene products in the men’s room, he wisely stayed focused on the cost to the taxpayer.

In replying to Elpers, Kinney stated that there had already been discussions about the machines, and the decision was made to move them to the new family restrooms that are part of the five-year plan for the libraries. The Kinney reply neither addressed the appropriateness nor the expense.

The real question to ask is: What is the role of the public library?

Do the taxpayers provide funding to the library to address “hygiene equity,” as stated on the sign on the tapon dispenser in the men’s room? Is it in the charter of the public library that they are expected to provide free feminine hygiene products, regardless of what room they are distributed in?

If we deem it appropriate for the library to address disparities in hygiene, then why shouldn’t we repurpose the libraries to feed the hungry, house the homeless, or provide immunizations?

Communities invest in public libraries to provide a place to borrow books. Their mission is simple: to curate a collection of reading material that citizens can access.

Every taxpayer contributes to the library budget to fund their primary mission. Should the library desire an expansion of the mission for which they are funded, it should seek the public’s permission. To do otherwise is a betrayal of the public trust.