Embattled library director announces resignation

Contra Costa Times ^ | 6/19/6 | Martin Snapp

[SmithL]

BERKELEY: Workers union fought with Jackie Griffin over issues of staff reduction, radio frequency devices -

Berkeley Public Library Director Jackie Griffin will step down later this month, ending a tumultuous five years of highs and lows.

The highs included balancing the library's budget, renovating the central library branch and successfully suing the contractor for cost overruns. The lows included claims of unfair treatment by library workers, staff reductions caused by budget cuts and the controversy surrounding radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs), which some say invade patrons' privacy and pose health risks.

Griffin's resignation was accepted last week by the Board of Library Trustees, who agreed to pay her $34,451 -- about three months' salary -- as severance.

Her resignation takes effect June 30. Roger Pearson, former director of the Sonoma County Library System, will take over as interim director while the board conducts a national search for a permanent replacement.

Griffin said it was the ongoing labor friction that pushed her to leave.

"I'm tired," she said. "I've felt for a long time that we're not able to move forward as a library because of this constant tension between me and elements of the union."

Griffin was the target of a grievance, filed by Service Employees Union Local 535, that claimed some library employees were treated unfairly and retaliated against. The board asked City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque to look into the charge and report back. That report is due in July.

"We did everything we could to work with Jackie to make her understand that the changes she was trying to implement, both staff reductions and RFIDs, were adversely impacting our safety and our ability to serve the public," said Andrea Segall, a librarian in the art and music section who is also vice president of SEIU Local 535. "But she wouldn't hear us. But it was never our intention to make her leave."

Linda Schacht, president of the Berkeley Library Foundation, the library's main private support group, called Griffin "a joy to work with" and said much of the criticism of her is unfair.

"To her credit, she's always taken the high road and never responded in kind," Schacht said. "Berkeley's loss is going to become some other city's gain."

Griffin said her biggest mistake was allowing the separate issues of RFIDs and staff reductions to become linked.

"I truly think it was unfortunate that just as we were starting to implement RFIDs, we started talking about layoffs. The timing on that was just terrible.

"You're helping to put tags into books, and you think those tags are going to contribute to someone you know getting laid off -- it's not going to be a happy situation. I think that's part of what's happening here," Griffin said.

She also defended the privacy standards the library implemented for the use of RFIDs, saying they were adopted by the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association.

Griffin said she is proud of her accomplishments, including stabilizing the library's finances and introducing new technologies that allow users to access the library from their home computers, including downloading music to their MP3 players.

And what are her immediate plans?

"I'm going to hang out with my 9-year-old son. I was talking with him last week, and I realized that for the first time in over a year I was actually listening to him instead of worrying about what was going on at work," Griffin said.

"So this is going to be the first summer in his entire life when he won't be in day care or summer camp."

[SmithL]

The union has shhhhhhhh'd the librarian.

[Taliesan]

Sounds like a good manager and therefore someone the union couldn't tolerate.

[martin_fierro]

RFID Ping

[frogjerk]

"You're helping to put tags into books, and you think those tags are going to contribute to someone you know getting laid off -- it's not going to be a happy situation. I think that's part of what's happening here," Griffin said.

I don't understand. How are the two issues linked?

[Right Wing Assault]

central library branch

The main library

[mtbopfuyn]

I don't understand. How are the two issues linked?

I don't either, but then this is Berkeley. I also don't understand why a county library has a union.

[JennysCool]

Trustees, who agreed to pay her $34,451 -- about three months' salary

Wow, librarians apparently have hit the jackpot!

[ECM]

Maybe with the tags you don't need someone to physically check the books in and out?

[Niteranger68]

With internet access so easy to now get, I predict libraries will be nothing more than museums in a few years.

[aquila48]

A sane person in Bezerkly? I'm surprised he lasted 5 years!

[plan2succeed.org]

"Roger Pearson, former director of the Sonoma County Library System, will take over as interim director while the board conducts a national search for a permanent replacement."

Let's hope the board that's conducting the national search for a permanent replacement finds a librarian responsive to the local community. Many directors are ALA-trained people who follow American Library Association [ALA] directives that are very often in direct defiance of community standards.

For example, almost all communities seek to keep children away from sexually inappropriate material. The ALA, on the other hand, trains its librarians to ensure children maintain access to those same sexually inappropriate materials.

Yes, that may be a strong statement of opinion, but it is obvious from the statements and actions of the ALA's leadership and many, but not all, of its members. To learn more, go here:

SafeLibraries.org - Are Children Safe in Public Libraries?