Director Finalists' Interviews
Monday, August 17th at 6:30 pm the Winnetka Northfield Public Library District
will hold interviews or presentations over Zoom for their new Director.
Click this link to find the directions on how to join the meeting.
January 2020 Meeting: Public Comments from a Retired Librarian
Above a former youth librarian from the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District offers civil, dignified comments on the sort of Director this library needs.
More January Public Comments
Bob Leonard on Genealogy
Chip
Carol shares her appreciation of the Board's hard work.
January Library Board Meeting, Public Comments
Sorry for the delay. Here's a couple of the videos of the January 20, 2020 Library Board Meeting.
I apologize for not adding a title and simple effects, but my iMovie isn't working.
They Spent How Much?
Here's a link to a Winnetka Talk/Chicago Tribune article on some of the expenses the Winnekta-Northfield Public Library District spent on keeping the former Library Director.
Note that when an organization needs to replace an employee, that commonly costs between $2000 and $7000, if not more. If just half of the 93 employees who left were due to the leadership at the library then tax payers probably spent $100,000 more - at minimum.
Note that when an organization needs to replace an employee, that commonly costs between $2000 and $7000, if not more. If just half of the 93 employees who left were due to the leadership at the library then tax payers probably spent $100,000 more - at minimum.
Results of the 2019 Employee Engagement Survey, Part 1
That response is 42.7% below the national average.
What is a Reference Librarian?
What is a Reference Librarian? Do we still need them?
A Reference Librarian has studied a wide range of reference materials, both in print and online and knows the proper procedure for helping a patron track down information.
With Google or Bing, many believe there doesn't seem to be much need for Reference Librarians anymore, but I argue that's not true.
A Reference Librarian should be able to help you better define your thoughts, show you how to access the information (and not just go to Wikipedia), provide extra pertinent information and offer to help you in the future.
Reference Librarians can:
The skills take a long time to develop so it's sad to see that this weekend NO ONE trained librarian was on duty at the Northfield library. While the staff was helpful and friendly, I'd hope that a district like Winnetka-Northfield could employ enough professionals so that there's at least one person who's studied Reference Services on duty.
I suppose we saved money this weekend, but is that why we have a library?
A Reference Librarian has studied a wide range of reference materials, both in print and online and knows the proper procedure for helping a patron track down information.
With Google or Bing, many believe there doesn't seem to be much need for Reference Librarians anymore, but I argue that's not true.
A Reference Librarian should be able to help you better define your thoughts, show you how to access the information (and not just go to Wikipedia), provide extra pertinent information and offer to help you in the future.
Reference Librarians can:
- Tell you what the weather was like in Denver on May 12th, 1902
- Tell you when English women stopped riding sidesaddle
- Show you how to use ReferenceUSA to analyze whether there's a need for another Chinese restaurant in a town, see the revenue of all the bakeries in a city, see the ethnicities and genders of the executives in a company and a lot more
- Help you refine your thesis and access information for a research paper
- Conduct a professional reference interview that helps you articulate your needs and helps her find the information you need
- Find out if there are any fjords in the US
- Explain what samizdat is
- Lead you to trustworthy sources of medical information -- and so much more.
The skills take a long time to develop so it's sad to see that this weekend NO ONE trained librarian was on duty at the Northfield library. While the staff was helpful and friendly, I'd hope that a district like Winnetka-Northfield could employ enough professionals so that there's at least one person who's studied Reference Services on duty.
I suppose we saved money this weekend, but is that why we have a library?
Winnetka-Northfield Public Library Board Meeting, Dec 2019, Carol
Excuse the poor sound. I did increase the volume 400% (the maximum), but the sound still is slow. When the library posts the sound in January, I'll make a video of that.
Yet, what Carol says is beautiful and worth straining your ears.
To see the disrespect that J.P. Ruiz-Funes showed Lois, click here.
Rotting from the Top
Pattie Morrell speaks out. She's now going to Glencoe Library. How many patrons do we have to lose before the Board acts?
WNPL December Board Meeting | Lois
Lois urges the Board to review former employees' exit interviews and correspondence. She advises them not to let the fox guard the hen house. Why should the Director Rebecca Wolf decide who's on a committee to evaluate or investigate Rebecca Wolf?
In what banana republic does the person under examination get to control the information on her record and get to choose who investigate her.
Board Packet for December Meeting
You can read the Board Packet for the December 16th meeting here.
It looks to me like our spending on other consultants, HR and legal services is high, while our visits and circulation is down.
Do you see anything that should be mentioned to the Board?
(Not that they seem to listen.)
It looks to me like our spending on other consultants, HR and legal services is high, while our visits and circulation is down.
Do you see anything that should be mentioned to the Board?
(Not that they seem to listen.)
Minutes vs. Meeting, Pt. 5 | Unbelievable
Trish and Denise's comments at the November 16th Library Board Meeting.
Do you think that the minutes thoroughly capture what was said?
Why are We Reinventing the Wheel?
A beautiful description of what a library can be and what a difference libraries can make to a community.
The speaker questions why the Director and Board have destroyed this gem of a library.
It bothers me that there's so much secrecy about the leadership's motivations. It's an incredible disservice to the voters to not get this woman's full comments in the minutes.
The Board has had the meeting recording posted online in full on the library's website, but this speaker spoke after an hour and 30 minutes had passed. The leadership knows few are going to listen to a long audio on a website.
"Sunshine is the best antiseptic."
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HR Task Force Started
Here is the recording of the part of the October Library Board Meeting when J.P. Ruiz-Funes announced the formation of a task force to figure out why so many employees have left our library.
By having just 2 Board Members, the task force doesn't have to keep minutes or follow the rules of the Open Meetings Act.
How the Minutes Got it Wrong
We think the Library Board owes it to the public to report the comments in full when a speaker asks for his or her comments to be published in full.
Library Board President J.P. Ruiz-Funes is right when he says they aren't required to, but a little good will and transparency would be appreciated a great deal.
The Minutes v. the Meeting, 2 Examples
We believe the Library Board should have included the full comments of the people, who asked that their full comments be put in the meeting.
Their comments were amended to sugar coat the problem.
Should the fox guard the hen house?
Where's the transparency?
The Minutes v. the Meeting
We believe the Library Board should have included the full comments of the people, who asked that their full comments be put in the meeting.
Their comments were amended to sugar coat the problem.
Should the fox guard the hen house?
Where's the transparency?
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