[Michlib-l] Our Apologies

[Cindi Place]

Here we would have sent an email or spoke with our director and, at the
very least, notified the agency, department etc. who suggests performers. I
think, in this case as well, a friendly note from a library director to Mr.
Rosenthal about concerns would have been helpful to him going forward. Just
my thoughts.

Cindi L. Place
Adult Services Librarian
Boyne District Library
(231)582-7861
placec at boynelibrary.org
cindiplace at gmail.com
Google can bring you back 100,000 answers, a librarian can bring you back
the right one.

*–Neil Gaiman*



On Fri, Jul 27, 2018 at 12:20 PM, BEL Britney Dillon via Michlib-l <
michlib-l at mcls.org> wrote:

> I think this is a valid question. Appropriate in method or not, the
> concerns raised by this children's librarian are good ones. My guess is
> this was not a cheap program. Many of us have to be very choosy about which
> programs we invest our dollars in. I would DEFINITELY want to know if one
> or more libraries had had a poor experience with a presenter. As a steward
> of my community's tax dollars, I feel like it is my responsibility to spend
> our money on the best programs possible; and as a director, I feel like it
> is my responsibility to make sure the presenters that come into my library
> aren't going to alienate patrons. As libraries, we have enough going
> against us right now; the instinct to look out for one another is a must.
> Just my two cents.
>
> Britney
>
> Library Director
> Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library
> 302 E. Main St.
> Belding, MI 48809
> 616.794.1450
>
> "You want weapons? We're in a library. Books are the best weapon in the
> world.
> This room's the greatest arsenal we could have. Arm yourself!" - The
> Doctor
>
> *---------- Original Message -----------*
> From: Paula Schaffner <paula at salinelibrary.org>
> To: jbratt <jbratt at grpl.org>
> Cc: lakeland youth services <llc_ys at llcoop.org>, llc all <
> llc_all at llcoop.org>, michlib-l at mcls.org
> Sent: Fri, 27 Jul 2018 09:18:23 -0600 (MDT)
> Subject: Re: [Michlib-l] Our Apologies
>
> > This raises an interesting question for all of us:  how can we share
> negative information/impressions/opinions with our peers?  I would not
> share patron comments word-for-word, but I certainly think it's helpful to
> know that a performer spent more time talking about himself than about the
> animals, and that his sense of humor did not translate well to a family
> audience.  I suppose one could say,  "We had very mixed reactions to
> So-and-So's performance.  What was your experience?  Please reply
> privately."  That could be code for "Watch out.  This one might not work
> for your library."
> >
>
> > Paula Schaffner
> >
> >
> ------------------------------
>
> > *From: *"jbratt--- via Michlib-l" <michlib-l at mcls.org>
> > *To: *"lakeland youth services" <llc_ys at llcoop.org>, "llc all" <
> llc_all at llcoop.org>, michlib-l at mcls.org
> > *Sent: *Thursday, July 26, 2018 3:36:52 PM
> > *Subject: *[Michlib-l] Our Apologies
> >
> > I would like to apologize for the email that one of my staff members
> sent out earlier this week about the Animal Magic performer Mark Rosenthal.
> The comments in that email were neither condoned by or representative of
> the viewpoint of the Grand Rapids Public Library. [UTF-8?]Everyone’s
> experience with a performer can be different and we do not want the opinion
> of one person to distort the experience of others.
> > The email contained inflammatory opinions and I apologize. It should not
> have been sent out. [UTF-8?]I’ve also heard that Animal Magic has
> received positive feedback from patrons in other library systems. We as an
> organization will learn from this mistake and make sure it does not happen
> again. This situation has illuminated the need for better staff training.
> > Finally, I would like to apologize to Mr. Rosenthal. The email was
> unprofessional and should not have been sent.
> > I appreciate your understanding and I am happy to speak with you further
> if needed.
> > John McNaughton
> > Director
> > Grand Rapid Public Library
> > _______________________________________________
> > Michlib-l mailing list
> > Michlib-l at mcls.org
> > http://mail2.mcls.org/mailman/listinfo/michlib-l
> *------- End of Original Message -------*
>
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>
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