HAMMER DROPS ON BOULDER PUBLIC LIBRARY

October 21, 2010 ,Boulder, Colorado is considered one of the country’s most intelligent cities.  but, with severe budget cuts looming, it’s the Boulder Public Library which is suffering. According to several sources at the Library,  under the previous library director, Tony Talbott, books were culled from the stacks if they weren’t used for a number of years and magazines, too.

That started the ball rolling but his resignation brought Donna Gaertman into the picture as Library Director Pro Tem.  She’s retiring on December 31, 2010 along with long-standing management personnel, Assistant Library Director Lyn Reed, whose husband Judge Tom Reed is retiring,  and finance director James Marshall.  There’s no continuity!

According to a city source, a $100,000 budget increase was to go toward 2% bonuses for those management personnel.  But, since they are leaving, where is that money going?  And, according to the City and library personnel, when several full time employees took retirement, they were not being replaced.  Instead, City management decided to bring in temp employees who wouldn’t require benefits. Anyone can see the stress on the faces of those long-term librarians and other library personnel wondering what will happen next.

While there is no confirmation from the City to this statement, Jennifer Miles is looking for a possible move to become Library Director. She came up in the ranks after being put into place at the library by former library Director Marcelee Graalap.

As one member of the library management recently said,  “Time will tell if we will even have a library here any more considering the cuts!”