The LaPorte County Public Library Board voted Thursday evening, Oct. 27, 2011, to reduce staff at the library and its branches from 73 to 54 and to close the Hanna branch.
The recommendations were made by Fonda Owens, who was named at the meeting as the library’s new director. She had been acting director since Judy Hamilton was dismissed from that position a year ago. Owens said the cuts are necessary due to a budget shortfall.
Owens’ salary as director was reportedly not announced at the meeting.
The library and its branches were closed Friday, Oct. 28, for in-service work. At least some employees who are losing their jobs were informed Oct. 28. The main branch was scheduled to be closed Saturday, Oct. 29, for renovation work.
Some salaries and days off will also reportedly be reduced or eliminated.
Department eliminations or consolidations will also take place, and departments will be moved within the main library.
Michael Sitar — October 28, 2011 @ 3:02 pm
I’ve been following the library situation since just before the termination of Judy Hamilton and I attended the above meeting. Details were non-existent, as were opportunities for any public questions, input or discussion. The votes were cast in public but it was obvious that the decisions had been previously made behind closed doors. The library is a tax funded, public institution – that was not apparent last night in the way this meeting was handled.
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Roger Pruden — October 28, 2011 @ 8:40 pm
I could not agree with Mike more. I too was there. No one put it out to the public they would use my tax dollars to a lady Named Nora to reorganize my library. Could not the director with all her education and pay do this?? Then to let 19 people go on her study without my say. How did they choose these employees? The director did not act professionally at all. No time for questions?? In my opinion, the board voted for this behind closed doors and with secret meetings way before last night. And they also cut other employees’ hours in half the next day. Did not let us know or let us choose this either. I hope Shaw can make the board, Fonda Owens and Cindy Lane pay for their mistakes with my tax dollars.
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Deirdre Mundy — October 29, 2011 @ 7:59 pm
I was also there. My husband was one of the people who lost his job. (The reference librarian with the red beard who helps people with computers.)
On Friday morning, they called the staff in. They assigned the survivors to “work groups” to help with the major remodel (which they’re doing even though they are currently 334K in the red for the year, according to Fonda at the meeting). The others got taken to a separate room.
They were told that they were let go and that their health insurance would end at the end of the month– Monday the 31.
Most of those laid off had been with the library for years, had excellent performance reviews, etc. BUT they were all people who had annoyed the new director at some time in the past. None of the people who worked for her old department (Extension) were let go, in fact it GAINED employees while everyone else was losing them.
I think the Library is one of the best things about La Porte. It’s been a real treasure to our community and a place for people to get together, to learn, and to find support. If you recall, a few years ago it was named “Best in the State.” It’s bone-chilling how quickly such an excellent institution can be run into the ground. The city council, school board, and county council members who appointed this board ought to be called to account.
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A Nonymous — October 30, 2011 @ 2:17 pm
Actually, the Extension Department lost a whole branch (Hanna) and its employees. It’s very sad when people lose their jobs, but something had to be done. Just like something had to be done about the previous Director and her “cohorts.”
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Sally Brown — October 30, 2011 @ 6:45 pm
Why has the library retained a “human resources executive” when losing other managers? It seems that an organization of approximately 50 employees could surely do without that salary expenditure. Human resources ought to be reorganized under the Director’s umbrella with perhaps a supervisor at a lower paygrade to do the day-to-day tasks.
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Deirdre Mundy — October 30, 2011 @ 7:03 pm
Anonymous– Extension is one of the largest departments. Hanna had a clerk and a page (part time book shelver.) It’s losses are still out of whack with the rest of the system, and the department GAINED employees from other departments in this move.
Also, all of us are using our real names. Why are you afraid to?
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Michael Sitar — October 30, 2011 @ 9:42 pm
I’ve never heard anyone describe the previous director as perfect (including herself). I can’t, however, imagine this kind of fiasco ever taking place under her leadership.
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Deirdre Mundy — October 31, 2011 @ 4:55 am
Also, Anon— other than the website (which could have been fixed by just having the board bid it out to web designers,) Why, precisely, did something have to be “done” about Judy Hamilton?
After all, she had many years of experience and was close to retirement anyway? Why wouldn’t it make more sense to wait until she retired and have an orderly transition to new management rather than more than a year of total chaos?
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Michele Barber — October 31, 2011 @ 7:35 am
1. All library board decisions should be discussed in a public forum with public input. The board and the director need to be accountable to the public for their decisions and the state of the library (budget shortfalls, budget needs, etc.).
2. Why were all these cuts made, then money spent to install new carpeting in the library?
It seems that are a lot of questions the board and director need to answer.
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marge berry — October 31, 2011 @ 12:34 pm
As a former employee for many years, I would say the library is no better off than when it was managed by Judy Hamilton. If you never worked there, you have no clue how working conditions were like. She lost a LOT of professional librarians. In my opinion it is the same type of regime going on, just different names. It is very sad because LaPorte is a good library – the board just really needs to clean house there.
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Jessie Affelder — November 1, 2011 @ 11:08 am
As a previous department manager at LCPL, I am saddened to hear that John Mundy has been laid off. When I had the pleasure of supervising him, John was friendly, intelligent and proved himself to be a great asset to the adult services department, the library and the community. I too have been laid off when a library encountered financial difficulties (Westchester Public Library in Chesterton), and I can say with certainty that in a few years things will probably get better all around. In the board’s defense, they probably have no experience cutting staff and services. I’m not in LaPorte anymore, and I don’t know who else got “let go”, and I admit to having no real clue as to the current atmosphere. LaPorte Library was a beautiful place to work and certainly a good library (if, in my opinion, often toxic). I can only hope that it will be able to struggle back up to that level of excellence.
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Michael Sitar — November 1, 2011 @ 4:04 pm
Jessie, I share your hope. After witnessing the behavior of the board Thursday night and the results that followed, my concern is that the struggle may be worsened by the very people charged with helping. Suffice it to say that in my estimation John was not the only great asset lost in this mass staff firing – he was just the only one whose wife made a public statement at the board meeting. I continue to urge the tax paying citizens of this community to seek the truth about this situation.
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Michael Sitar — November 14, 2011 @ 9:45 pm
Just got back from the “special” board meeting and, unfortunately, it was the dog & pony show we had feared. Mr. Friedman gave the board fair warning not to simply “follow their script” and re-do what they had done in the 10/27 meeting, but they ignored his advice. They even knew when to pass the microphone so they were able to finish their performance without breaking the pre-determined outcome. I personally am even more ashamed of them than I was after the October 27 meeting.
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Emily Metheny — November 15, 2011 @ 9:32 pm
This whole incident saddens me greatly. I am a post-teen and seeing what has happened to my library upsets me. What makes the situation worse is the meeting yesterday (Monday.) I wasn’t able to attend due to college but I heard this morning what transpired. I am very ashamed. But here’s the funny thing: I’m not going to stop fighting for this.
One more thing: LaPorte, this is our library, we need to defend it as such.
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