ST. CHARLES COUNTY — St. Charles County’s new library board appointee says he has a lot to learn from “unbiased sources” about the county’s sprawling library system, which has been at the center of several controversies in recent months.
William “Buddy” Hardin was unanimously added to the nine-person library board on Tuesday night by the County Council, and Matthew Seeds, who has served on the board since earlier this year, was reappointed.
“I am just planning on observing and seeing what is going on,” Hardin said. “If I see something that I don’t understand or that I think could be changed, I will ask questions. I’ve been told that I’m good at asking questions.”
Hardin’s appointment comes as the St. Charles City-County Library system and CEO Jason Kuhl have come under heavy scrutiny in recent months. County Council members and residents have blasted the library’s administration at public meetings in recent months and urged them to install various reforms, including a gender-neutral dress code after patrons complained that an employee was wearing a goatee and nail polish. They have also complained about books they deem too sexually explicit to be included in the adult section of the library.
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County Executive Steve Ehlmann said earlier this fall he felt increased “pressure to appoint an avowed conservative” given the recent focus on the board’s political affiliations. He and Hardin have known each other for decades, and he said Tuesday he thinks the new appointee will bring “diversity” to the board of trustees.
Hardin, who acknowledged that he has not had a library card for decades, said he is still a proponent of libraries and believes they enrich the community. He said in the past he often used the library for genealogy research, to read magazines and newspapers, and to preview books that he would often later purchase from a bookstore.
“I know my grandkids and great-grandkids use the library a lot, so I have an interest in the libraries,” Hardin said.
Hardin, who ran a private probation services business for more than 20 years in St. Charles, is married to former St. Charles County Recorder of Deeds Barb Hall.
An Alton native, Hardin graduated in 1989 from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In August 2022, he finished third in the Republican Party primary in Missouri House District 106, which includes portions of St. Charles north of Interstate 70.
Council members on Tuesday night lauded Ehlmann’s appointment of Hardin, who Councilman Tim Baker said represents a “voice that echoes, I think, the majority of St. Charles County.”
After the meeting, Hardin said that he appreciated the sentiment but pledged to keep an open mind.
“I know people are going to try and reach out to change my mind this way or that way, but I just want to learn stuff from unbiased sources, and I also want the chance to talk to people that are actually involved with the libraries,” Hardin said.
One of his first goals, he said, is to better understand the library district’s finances and financial outlook.
Meanwhile, calls for the firing of Kuhl, the library system’s CEO, also reached a fever pitch on Tuesday night.
“Jason Kuhl is absolutely a political activist, and everybody knows it, said County Councilman Joe Brazil. “And the board has issues too, so they need to adjust their ways or they are all going to be gone too.”
Hardin vowed after Tuesday’s meeting that he won’t be swayed by others’ opinions of Kuhl, whom he said he’s never met.
“I have heard people say that he is great, but then I’ve also heard people say that he is not,” Hardin said. “I am going to just have to see for myself.”
Hardin, 60, replaces Georganne MacNab, whose term expired on July 31. Hardin’s term runs through 2026.
Hardin and Seeds join a library board that consists of Staci Alvarez, Nevada Smith, Renee Tillmann, Justin Collier, TJ Rains, Melissa Setser and Josiah Schmidt.
Alvarez, Smith and Tillmann represent St. Charles County; the others are appointees from the city of St. Charles.
The next appointments to the library board likely won’t happen until next year, when the terms of Alvarez, Smith and Setser are set to expire.