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.

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.

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.)

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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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?

Public Comments: Winnetka-Northfield Public Library Board

Some of the public comments from the November meeting of the Winnetka-Northfield Library Board.

Lois points out how the information is altered and spun at the Library and how the Board has known this for years.

She addresses the discrepancy between what the October Board Minutes state and what people, who asked for their full comments to be published, actually said.

The Board President J.P. refused to revise the minutes to reflect the full statements, because technically he doesn't have. too.

November Board Meeting Board Packet

Winnetka Northfield Public Library, November Board Packet by Susan Kelly on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/435297078/Winnetka-Northfield-Public-Library-November-Board-Packet

Board Meeting

Their plan to address the alarming turnover rate.

We're contacting neighboring libraries for their data. We've found that ours outpaces Northbrook and will probably find that Ms. Wolf's analysis is far off. Stay tuned.

Things Come Down from the Top

An insightful comment on what's going on at the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library

Library Board Meeting, Pt 2

Immediately following the first group of public comments, the board approves last month's minutes and discuss finances.

Another from the Oct. Library Board Meeting

The Board explains that they're going to have more committees to address the problem of our 51% turnover rate for the last 12 months.

Library patrons remain upset with director’s decisions despite creation of special committee

Retrieved from ttps://www.winnetkacurrent.com/p/news/library-patrons-remain-upset-director’s-decisions-despite-creation-special-committee

Bianca Cseke, Freelance Reporter 6:18 am CDT October 23, 2019

The Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District Board of Trustees created a special committee to review human resources practices and procedures during its Monday night meeting, Oct. 21.

Yet, many members of the community remain upset with the board’s handling of the turnover situation at Northfield Library.

The committee will provide support to library staff and gather data. It will be comprised of two newer trustees in an effort to be more objective about the libraries’ issues.

About a dozen individuals spoke during the public comment periods of Monday’s board meeting to show their disapproval with how the situation has been handled and with what they regard as apathy from board members.

Reasons that were brought up for people leaving the library included: wanting hours reduced, being asked to switch hours to the Winnetka library, being passed over for a position for someone less qualified and wanting to take vacation time like in past years.

In August, members of the community attended sessions to discuss staffing issues and renovation plans for the Northfield branch, and they were concerned about the high turnover rate at Northfield and opposed to the renovations. Winnetka’s library recently underwent $2.1 million in remodeling, and Northfield residents said they did not want the same.

Last month, the trustees approved a plan to address the turnover issue, which included fireside chats, an outside HR consultant and increased presence of the library director and other top-level managers in the library.

Library Director Rebecca Wolf said she spoke with six “sister libraries” to compare data on retention and turnover rates and found that the libraries had an average turnover rate of 38 percent. Meanwhile, the Northfield library had a turnover rate of just 25 percent, she said.

Wolf also mentioned that most of the turnover was occurring due to what she called “positive things,” like receiving better job offers or only being temporary employees. Five employees left involuntarily.

But many community members weren’t satisfied with Wolf’s analysis of the turnover rate.

“Happy employees don’t leave,” Sue Erickson-Kelly told the board.

She told board members that she wondered if they actually read the exit surveys completed by departing library employees.

Trustees insisted that they did take community input seriously.

“I take extreme offense at the idea that we do not care,” Vice President Travis Gosselin said.

Gosselin added the board doesn’t get involved in day-to-day operations, but does rely on input from both the library director and the public.

Board President Jean Paul Ruiz-Funes said the board has done a lot of work to address issues that have been brought up. He mentioned the new HR director at Northfield, the board’s reviews of employee surveys and the creation of the special committee, which is expected to reach a conclusion on the issues by December.

“These are serious matters, serious allegations,” he said. “We are giving them all the time that they need.”

The board will also be meeting Nov. 4 for a study session on what can be done better in terms of processes.

Still, some meeting attendees were not satisfied with the board or the library director’s handling of issues.

“You talk about our goals and values,” Margaret Sullivan said. “We had that already. Why reinvent the wheel when we already had it?”

Ruiz-Funes said the board does not run the libraries, meaning that questions have to be answered by the individuals who run the library, not the board.

“We’re on the right track,” Pat Doherty said. “Now it’s time for some decision-making. It’s clear that one thing needs to be done — and that is to fire Rebecca (Wolf).”

Hopes for the Next Board Meeting

Next Monday the Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District will hold another Board Meeting at its Winnetka location at 7pm. I do hope that all Board Members attend and that they are able to present how they have investigated the personnel problems now that there are at least 93 employee departures since 2013 when its current director, Rebecca Wolf, started. In the last 12 months, at least 21 employees have departed. Has the Board analyzed the Employee Engagement Survey, which was completed and presented to  the staff in June? Have they spoken with current employees? What have they done to make sure that they have a full picture of the director’s leadership?

At the September meeting there were empty seats designated for Board members. I hope all members can attend the October meeting. When they ran for office, they knew their commitment to the community is to attend meetings held on the third Monday of a month. In September four of the seven members attended, which is quite disappointing considering that patrons’ call for improvements. 

The library has had five meetings so far when patrons have expressed their displeasure with the plans for the Northfield branch renovation and the alarming turnover rate, which exceeds that of McDonald’s.

According to reports in The Winnetka Current, when asked about the high turnover, Board President Ruiz-Funes and the Director Wolf have cited the community survey results indicating that the majority of respondents are highly satisfied with the library. This response reminds me of the Korean proverb: The question comes from the East and the answer comes from the West. The leadership was asked about employee turnover, but changes the subject and shares survey results about another aspect of the library’s operations. We’re not fooled.

The board president offered to hold fireside chats for the patrons to meet with the director. The library has already held three Board Meetings and two community “Listening Sessions.” These fireside chats aren’t needed. More chatting and “listening” wastes time. The patrons have clearly stated what they want. It’s time for the Board to act.

Library Hires Media Consultant

We've learned that the Library has hired a Media Consultant in addition to our full time Head of Communications, who's a skilled, capable professional.

Is this expense needed?
How much does this cost?
Who approved this?
What other small libraries have a Media Consultant as well as a Communications staff?

Come to the October 21st Board Meeting to find out what's going on.

The meeting is 7pm at the Winnetka Library.