Thanks to you and other great supporters, we’ve had a terrific first step in the dismantling of LIBRARYGATE.
Last Monday, the library director resigned, opening the way for the possibility of productive re-building at Berkeley Public Library.
And, we’re not done yet!
Now, the pressure mounts to persuade the Board of Library Trustees to dialog openly with the community. WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE this coming WEDNESDAY. BOLT will meet and it’s pretty certain that the plans for how to search for the new director will be the focus. Just like we’ve been doing, members of the library public and current and retired staff will sign up for a three-minute public comment speaking slot. We’re looking for YOU!
And your friends.
This meeting will be a turning point. We’re negotiating for an immediate investigation into what’s gone wrong with the library collection and treatment of staff. We need the Board and the library administration to learn from past mistakes. We want to insure that the search for a new library director is a national search for candidates of diverse backgrounds, who have a commitment to the Berkeley community and to the printed word in all its forms. We need an independent interim library director who’s not beholden to the policies and practices of newly-retired Jeff Scott, and who can trustfully restore staff morale. We need to restore a collegial collection development policy and practice, not limited to book selection and weeding by two managers. We need to return all librarians to their work of selecting and weeding the collection. And we want to restore the rampantly weeded collection by reinstating the last copies of titles that were massively tossed.