So recently, I expressed my thoughts on the Honey Brook Community Library suddenly deciding no candidate meet and greets would take place at their facility. To my understanding this is not a political party gathering, it’s a community meet and greet of all candidates of various offices and political parties for an upcoming election. What I was also told is the library lady told people on the phone that the library was uncomfortable given the political climate in Honey Brook Township. Yes I am paraphrasing, but anyway, here is what I said:

I think something has to be said about the situation involving the Honey Brook Library of it all and Valerie Shultz for Honey Brook Township Supervisor. The latest thing to fly around this bucolic municipality with the rotten underbelly, is that Val is a hater of libraries and they go further to intimate that she’s somehow “threatening” or “bullying” the library.

The library in Honey Brook historically has done political meet and greets until THIS election.

All of a sudden they were uncomfortable, and people were being told that some were fearful of doing a meet and greet? Val didn’t argue with them, she respected their position, but she like many of us have questioned the timing of it.

Sorry, not sorry the timing is totally suspect and that’s just common sense and if you go back to the most recent meeting for the supervisors, they had to go (and they meeting the library) proverbial hat in hand to ask for money from the municipality.

The way things work with bully or thug politics is often somewhat subversive and behind the scenes whisper down the lane where nobody overtly says an organization won’t get money that they need but they might intimate along the lines of maybe they won’t get as much because the political cabal is uncomfortable with Val running.

It is my belief and my opinion that any organization that needed money from Honey Brook Township would be discouraged this election season to do meet and greets.

This shouldn’t be the way it happens, but am I wrong? It’s bullying pure and simple, of Val AND the library? OK so the talking hoodie doesn’t want to debate, but are they so afraid of both candidates being at a meet and greet with other candidates?

These meet and greets feature all sorts of candidates running, including judicial. Just a little food for thought.

Of course the talking hoodie had to post a screenshot. Not that I care. That is an OPINION and they haven’t revoked the first Amendment yet that I know of.

Sooo before I get to the meat of the matter, let us address his accusation that Valerie Shultz is being terrible to the library. Honeys, I have it in writing and this is what Valerie said which was calm and measured (much like speaking to Valerie is):

Here is the text of the email in case you have a hard time reading the screenshot:

Jennifer,

First, I would like to thank you for working so well with Aurora, a member of my campaign team, for weeks to make the meet-n-greet candidate night a success.  I’m just saddened that your team felt unsafe by hosting the event and had to withdraw your offer to host.  Aurora indicated that you had been tagged in a FB post that led to your discomfort with hosting.  I want to assure you that at no time did I or a member of my campaign team tag the library in a post.  Unfortunately, there has been a pervasive effort by my opponent to intimidate anyone who provides me with a forum to speak to residents.  I am sincerely sorry if that indeed was what happened to your team.

Secondly, I wanted to make you aware that I was campaigning in the Township yesterday and when I unknowingly visited a member of the library board, I was accused of spreading lies about the library then had a door slammed in my face.  I do not know what lies I am alleged with having spread because she would not explain.  I want to make it clear that at the last Supervisors meeting I asked about the latest donation to the library because I was concerned about the impact on the budget.   It’s my job to ask those questions and the library is not the only instance where I have asked about expenditures.  I want residents to understand how their tax money is being spent.  I was in no way implying that I do not support the library.  I believe the library is a critical part of our community.  I am an elected auditor for the Township and have been carefully watching expenses for the last 2 years to ensure we are not headed for a tax increase.  I would ask if you are aware of what was so upsetting to one of your board members that you please inform me so that I can clear up any misconception or misinformation.  As a candidate for Supervisor, I want to have a excellent working relationship with you and your board should I be elected.  Please feel free to call me if you’d prefer to speak instead of email.  My cell is [REDACTED]

Regards,

Valerie Shultz

Here was library lady’s reply:

So all can read:

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Aurora, a regular library patron, who has never identified herself as affiliated with any particular organization or team, approached us about hosting a meet-and-greet event. Due to our limited staffing following our recent reopening, and after much insistence, we agreed to provide venue space only, with no involvement in event planning or logistics.

We subsequently removed this event from our schedule based on our standard evaluation process for all programming. We are deeply concerned about false statements suggesting external pressure influenced our decision-making. These claims are categorically untrue. This decision was made independently by library leadership to ensure alignment with our educational mission and community service goals.

As a community institution, we will not tolerate the spread of false information that damages our reputation and undermines public trust. Such misinformation has created legitimate daily security concerns for our staff and patrons due to the inflammatory rhetoric being shared online. The safety of everyone who enters our library is our highest priority. We take these security concerns seriously.

We remain committed to transparent communication with our community. We welcome respectful feedback and constructive dialogue about our programming. Our doors remain open, and we encourage community members to communicate with us directly about any concerns rather than engaging with unverified information online.

The library exists to serve all residents through educational programming, resources, and services. We will continue making decisions that support this mission while maintaining a safe and welcoming environment for everyone in our community. We remain committed to our mission of educating and serving the Honey Brook community with integrity and professionalism.

Jennifer Spade

Library Director

Youth Services Coordinator

Honey Brook Community Library

687 Compass Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344

610-273-3303

I call BS on the library lady and here is why:

So all can read easily:

On Monday, August 18, 2025, 1:37 PM, wrote:

I would like to inform everyone that the Honey Brook Library sent an email they are no longer comfortable hosting our meet and greet. Please see below.  

Hi Aurora,

Due to the way this upcoming political election is playing out online on social media, the Honey Brook Community Library will no longer be hosting a meet and greet event at the library on Oct 8.  We are concerned about the safety of our staff and building.  I hope that you have enough time to find an alternate place for your event.

Thank you,

Jennifer Spade

Library Director

Youth Services Coordinator

Honey Brook Community Library

687 Compass Road, Honey Brook, PA 19344

610-273-3303

And then there is this:

Once again a false narrative…and you’re lying when you say “ I can’t make this stuff up” because that’s all you do!!

I had a phone conversation with Jennifer, the director of the library, and asked her flat out! During our conversation she said that her staff was concerned about their safety and the intimidation tactics that you and Sal employ!

You talk about Honey Brook Twp being a bucolic community. I know it’s a big word. Perhaps you should look up the definition because your contentious behavior doesn’t align. Plain and simple. You’re just an overgrown, adult bully.

So then the trustees of the Honey Brook Community Library released a statement a couple of hours ago:

Here is the verbiage in case the screen capture is blurry:

A Statement from our Board of Trustees:

Honey Brook Community Library exists to serve our entire community through educational programming, resources, and services that enrich the lives of all residents. As a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we are deeply committed to this mission and take seriously our responsibility to create an environment where every community member feels welcome, safe, and able to pursue learning and personal growth.

This commitment requires us to exercise careful judgment in our programming decisions. As a private organization, we maintain full discretion over the events we host, grounded in constitutional protections for freedom of association and our rights as private property owners.

Our Executive Director, supported by the board, makes these decisions independently, guided solely by our institutional mission to educate and serve the community. We are not bound by external pressures or influences that might compromise our primary obligation to maintain the library as a neutral educational resource for all residents.

Libraries have always been sanctuaries of learning, reflection, and peaceful discourse. Our community expects and deserves a space where they can engage with ideas, conduct research, participate in educational programs, and find respite. Libraries, while champions of intellectual freedom, must also maintain environments conducive to their core educational purposes. This means we must sometimes decline to host events that might compromise the peaceful, welcoming atmosphere that defines library spaces or that could create barriers to access for any members of our community.

We value feedback from our community and encourage open discussion. While not everyone will agree, we ask that all comments remain respectful. Our goal is to educate and serve the community, and we’ll continue working toward that with integrity.

Our commitment to community betterment remains unwavering while preserving the neutral, inclusive environment that makes libraries essential community resources.

Respectfully,

I love libraries. Have friends who are and were librarians different places. But to this library I simply ask are you playing politics or bowing to politics? Either way, you are a 501(c)(3) and you best think about that carefully. That is not a threat or anything other than they are a registered non-profit.

Isn’t it true the League of Women Voters meets there? So why can’t they, like their branches in many other areas, host a meet and greet at a library? It’s not one candidate, it’s as many as wish to show up. It’s a community thing and benign. A library should be neutral and neutral ground. But this is Honey Brook and it’s like a corn field Tammany Hall.

That is all I have got but the library lady does in fact need to get her story straight, don’t you think? If they are concerned because of a highly charged political atmosphere, can’t blame them. But the problem is they have done these gatherings before.

If Honey Brook Community Library is not doing this kind of gathering this year, then perhaps they need to issue a policy going forward that they aren’t hosting meet and greets of a political nature period. That way there is no confusion on the topic or suspicions of motivations.

Enjoy the day.