Hearing on library moved to Thursday

A hearing on a lawsuit over the Whitefish Library transition from county to city control was postponed from Tuesday until Thursday.

The hearing before District Judge Stewart Stadler will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Flathead County Justice Center.

The hearing will consider whether a preliminary injunction should be issued pending a trial or other resolution of a lawsuit filed against the Flathead County Library Board, the library director and the county.

The Whitefish Library Association filed the lawsuit June 1 asking that county library officials be ordered to stop removing materials from the Whitefish branch library.

On June 3, District Judge David Ortley issued a temporary restraining order that prevents materials from being removed from the Whitefish Library, says no materials that had been in Whitefish could be discarded or destroyed, and directs county officials to provide a list of all materials that were part of the Whitefish collection as of March 1.

Ortley also ordered the library to remain open through the end of this month.

County library officials planned to close the library June 18 so they could finish removing materials that are part of the county’s collection.

The lawsuit is the latest move in an ongoing dispute between the county and Whitefish over the library.

Last November, the Whitefish City Council voted to end its agreement with the county to operate a branch library there and to instead operate a city library. The agreement expires June 30.

The Whitefish Library Association is a nonprofit organization that raises money to support the Whitefish library.

It is not the same group as the Whitefish Community Library Board, which has been appointed by the Whitefish City Council to oversee library operations.

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or by email at sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.