As Warren Memorial Library supporters continue to seek answers about why the building is closing and how it can remain open, the board that made the decision remains tight-lipped.

“It was such an abrupt decision. I think it was terribly played,” said Westbrook resident Keith Bubblo about how the Warren Memorial Foundation board of directors has handled the fallout of its decision.

Rene Daniel, a member of the board who has acted as its spokesperson since the announcement, said because the foundation is private, the board is not obligated to disclose information about its decision.

“I don’t believe the board owes them an explanation,” he said.

The Warren Memorial Foundation was established in 1929 from the will of Susan Cornelia Warren, who established a trust in memory of her husband, Samuel Dennis Warren, to support education and the arts. The bequest of $130,000 was given to the Cumberland Mills Library, which was established in 1875 to serve mill workers and their families.

On Tuesday, the city announced that it will receive the library’s collection of 30,000 books and videos. The majority of the collection will likely be integrated into the Walker Memorial Library collection. City councilors are holding a workshop Thursday to discuss how Warren’s closure will affect the city library and what can be done to make sure residents’ needs are met.

Council President Brendan Rielly, who called the meeting, said he expects some discussion of Warren’s closure, as well. As was evident by the some 50 people who showed up at Riverbank Park Saturday to rally in support of keeping Warren Memorial Library open, the devoted patrons are far from ready to accept the board’s decision and give up hope of keeping their library open in some form.

Rielly said he invited board members to the meeting Thursday, but hasn’t heard back from them and doesn’t expect to. Rielly said he wanted to give the board the opportunity to explain to the public why it decided to close.

But Daniel said the council can’t solve all the city’s problems and believes its focus should be on what to do with the collection – not getting answers from the board.

“I do not believe the city has a right to entertain a foundation before them to ask them questions,” Daniel said, pointing out how the council hasn’t questioned churches or other private businesses that have closed in the city about their decisions.

However, the lack of an explanation continues to frustrate many of the patrons.

Michael Elwell, the chairman of newly formed group Friends of the Warren Memorial Library, said that in reviewing the library’s tax records, he thought the board made some imprudent decisions over the past five to 10 years. He pointed to the effect a $3 million renovation project about five years ago had on the foundation’s endowment.

“The real problem came when they did that addition,” he said.

According to Elwell, who is a certified internal auditor, before the renovations, the endowment was about $6 million and was making about the same amount of money in interest as it cost to operate the library. Even after half the endowment was spent on the renovations, he said, it was still making enough to cover costs because the stock market was going up.

However, once the market started to drop, costs had to be covered by the principal, which, at that rate, would be depleted within a few years if it continued to pay for the operation of the library.

Elwell said if the board continued to operate the library, it needed a continued increase in the stock market.

“The whole planning that was dependent on that was flawed,” he said.

Elwell, other patrons and former library director Anastasia Weigle all believe the board was at fault for not raising money to pay for renovations.

Daniel maintains that he believes the board could only accept specific gifts and grants, but not fundraise for the project.

However, patrons believe something can still be done to get the library out of the hole, but the board has been unresponsive to suggestions.

In talks with the board members, Rielly said, he proposed tapping into the obvious passion of patrons to set up an advisory board that would be in charge of fundraising, but the board wasn’t interested. He said he also asked that, in addition to donating the collection, the board fund a staff position at Walker. The board asked him to write out the proposal, which Rielly did. He said he hasn’t heard back about it yet.

Daniel said the board does not have the money to fund a position at Walker.

Mayor Bruce Chuluda is expected to restore a staff position at Walker library in his proposed budget Monday, Rielly said. That would allow it to reopen on Saturday, according to Walker library Director Karen Valley

Valley said she’s already seen Warren patrons using the city-run library. She said she’s excited to receive Warren’s collection, but knows it will be a lot of work to integrate it into the one at Walker and, at the same time, handle the 30 percent increase in circulation she expects to see when the Warren library closes for good on May 1.

Rielly said he hopes to come up with a plan to use volunteers to help the Walker staff run the library.

“It think there’s a willingness in the community,” he said. “We need to harness that energy.”

The energy of the community was clear Saturday morning, as about 50 Warren library patrons gathered on the soggy lawn at Riverbank Park, carrying signs in protest of the library’s imminent closure.

Taking turns holding the megaphone, several people spoke to the crowd about the library and their displeasure with its board of directors.

Originally, Saturday’s rally was supposed to be a march from the park to the library, but police informed leaders of the group that it would be problematic because the library is on private property.

Adults, children and even a few dogs came out Saturday morning. They heard from members of Friends of the Warren Memorial Library, Weigle and City Councilor John O’Hara. One of the first residents to mobilize the group to prevent the library from closing, Kelly Watters, said she was pleased with the crowd.

“It was a great turnout,” she said.

Elwell agreed, but marked the enthusiasm of the people as more significant than the sheer number of them.

Following the speeches, patrons milled around the park, chatting about what they love about the library and why they’re so disappointed with the board.

Cindy Jacobs said the library was where her son, Nathan, made most of his friends – and where she’s made many of hers, too.

“It’s what brought us all together,” she said.

One of her son’s friends, 7-year-old Abby Milewski, expressed her own displeasure with the board.

“It’s just a shame that it’s closing,” she said. “They don’t see it the way we see it.”

Kelly Watters, a member of Friends of the Warren Memorial Library, holds a sign at a rally Saturday, as former library director Anastasia Weigle speaks to the crowd at Riverbank Park.Anastasia Weigle, a former director of the Warren Memorial Library, speaks to library patrons at a rally to keep the library open Saturday at Riverbank Park.Warren Library patrons show their support to keep the library open at a rally Saturday. The board of directors decided to close the library May 1 and donate its collection to the city.