[Michlib-l] 5 Wesland librarians suddenly "let go" under suspicious circumstances

[Christine Hage]

Also they might be jepordizing their state certification. As a Class VI library they are required to have I librarian for every 20,000 people I believe. 

Christine Lind Hage, 
Director, Rochester Hills Public Library
Councilor, United for Libraries
500 Olde Towne Road
Rochester, MI 48309
258/650-7122




On Mon, Mar 13, 2017 at 2:45 PM -0400, "Kristy Cooper" <kristycooper1 at gmail.com> wrote:














Dear Library Friends,



 



Some of you might be following the
recent events at the Westland Public Library, where five out of the eight
full-time librarians on the adult services staff were abruptly "let
go" on March 3rd. The explanation given for this unprecedented
move was “restructuring” of the library. As a librarian who worked at Westland
for many years, I was concerned to learn about this turn of events, so I went
to the library's next board meeting where I found out the head of the department
had also just resigned, bringing their number down to only two people. Although the board
president tried to stop me, I recorded most of the meeting here (it has already
had 12,000 views): https://www.facebook.com/kristy.cooper.71/videos/10210959179687172/



 



The reason for this sudden "restructuring"
decisions do not hold water (it is not even in alignment with the library's
fiscal year budget which is July-June).  It is alarming for two reasons.
First, the removal of 5/8 of full time librarians at once and with no notice
seems to be a blatant attempt to disrupt unionization activities currently
underway after several years of court cases involving unionization of library
staff. Second, because the unvested retirement funds of these librarians will
likely be returned to the general fund and will help to break ground on a $3
million building expansion currently being planned. The coincidental nature of
this timing seems suspicious and begs for investigation.  



 



Regardless of the motives for firing
the adult services librarians, we know that the community served by the
Westland Public Library deserves better. With the dismissal of these
librarians, a number of critical programs have been cut off with no
transition plan -- all teen services, homebound delivery to seniors, job
seekers’ labs, computer, smartphone, and tablet classes, book clubs, and
 the adult literacy program. Neither is there anyone to take over for the
staffers that maintain the library website and social media communications
(their Facebook page is currently down).  Moreover, the Westland Public
Library Board intends to replace these full-time degreed librarians with
non-degreed, part-time staff which could potentially jeopardize future state
funding and QSAC ratings.



 



The librarians in Westland are
committed to the community, and we as librarians and information professionals
know that libraries are more than buildings, books, and computers—professional
librarians are vital to strong libraries that provide excellent service to their
communities. We must stand in solidarity together and demand answers about why
these librarians have been dismissed with no warning.



 



The board president attempted to
explain their reasoning behind these cuts. However the many citizens and former
Westland librarians (including myself) were not convinced. Please take a moment
to read my summary of the meeting here: https://www.facebook.com/kristy.cooper.71/videos/10210959179687172/



 



Please feel free to contact me if you would like to learn how to get involved in helping these 5 librarians. 



 



Otherwise
 you can share your displeasure with the Mayor
of Westland, William Wild, who appoints the Library Board. You can call his office at: (734) 467-3200, email him at http://www.cityofwestland.com/Home/Components/StaffDirectory/StaffDirectory/66/416?alpha=M, or send him a tweet @MayorWild.  Let the mayor know that librarians are
important, and that Westland needs them and the programming and services they
provide to the community.  



 



If you would like to share my video on
Twitter, the link is available here: https://twitter.com/kristycooperYA/status/841010987318812672



 



Thank you everyone,



 



Kristy Cooper



Former Head of Technology Services and
Web Librarian at the Westland Public Library (2007-2013) 



YA Author at kristycooper.com










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