Marshall Library Board Met at Mattoon Restaurant After Library Tour

Marshall Library | August 12, 2026

Article Summary: The Marshall Public Library Board of Trustees held its August regular meeting at the Original Burger King restaurant in Mattoon, roughly 30 miles from the library it governs, convening there after touring the Mattoon Public Library and History Center.

Meeting Location Key Points:

• The Aug. 12, 2026, meeting was noticed on the agenda for “The Original Burger King, 1508 Charleston Ave, Mattoon, IL 61938.”
• The board convened there after touring the Mattoon Public Library and History Center; the minutes do not state who attended the tour or what was discussed.
• Four of nine listed trustees were absent, and the meeting ran 13 minutes.
• The board returns to the Dale McConchie Meeting Room at the Marshall Public Library on Sept. 9.

MARSHALL — The Marshall Public Library Board of Trustees conducted its August regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, not at the library but at a restaurant in another county’s city, gathering at the Original Burger King in Mattoon following a tour of the Mattoon Public Library and History Center.

The location was publicly noticed. The board’s posted agenda for the meeting gives the place as “The Original Burger King, 1508 Charleston Ave, Mattoon, IL 61938,” and sets the start time at 6:00 PM (CST). The minutes record President John Tarble calling the meeting to order at 6:14 p.m. CDT — 14 minutes after the noticed time, and in a different time-zone abbreviation than the agenda used.

What the Record Says About the Tour

The minutes state that the board met at the restaurant “following our tour of the Mattoon Public Library and History Center.” That single clause is the whole of the record on the tour. The minutes do not say when the tour began, who conducted it, which trustees or staff took part, whether it was separately noticed, or whether any library business was discussed during it. The agenda makes no mention of a tour at all.

The agenda carries no item corresponding to a facilities discussion, a building project, or a peer-library visit, and the minutes record no report back from the tour under Old Business, New Business or Other — all three of which appear in the minutes as headings with no content beneath them except the single staff-training motion under New Business.

A Thirteen-Minute Meeting With Four Absences

The meeting ran from 6:14 p.m. to 6:27 p.m., a span of 13 minutes, in which the board approved the July 8 minutes, approved the bill listing by roll call, received four reports, discussed an insurance claim and voted to close the library for a staff training day.

Five members were present: Tarble, Devon Burkybile, Mike Cameron, Janet Hasten and Herman Wallace. Four were recorded absent: Jody Green, Jenn Smitley, Melissa Strait and Steve Schofield. Schofield’s resignation letter was among the correspondence read at the meeting; it is covered in a separate story.

Three staff members beyond the director and head librarian also attended — Library Clerks Edie Breneman, Stacey Dunn and Sarah Martin — meaning staff present outnumbered trustees present.

The board’s September meeting returns to its usual setting. The minutes and agenda both state the next meeting will be Sept. 9, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the Dale McConchie Meeting Room of the Marshall Public Library.