JP Goguen looks back on #bookgate

JP Goguen, who helped bring the news of June's massive and misguided weeding project at Urbana Free Library to light, has written a summary of the past two month's events.

As we wait for a response from the Library's Board of Trustees to the open letter mailed to them this week, we hope you'll read JP's article and explore this blog to help catch up on what you missed and why it matters.

On the Library's site, you can also find results of a recent parking and transportation study (see Planning Studies) it commissioned.

An Open Letter to the Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees

To the Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees:

In early June members of the public learned of immense changes taking place at the Urbana Free Library. Since then hundreds of people have attended and spoken at Board meetings, signed petitions, contacted you personally, written public letters and comments, and otherwise shown concern for UFL.  We appreciate the Board’s promise of greater transparency and its pledge to listen to community concerns.

To that end, we would like to bring the following questions to the Board. These are not our only questions, but they are some of the most pressing ones and some we have been asking for nearly two months. As you work towards the best possible outcome for this beloved public institution and for the community as a whole, we hope and trust that you will respond to these questions quickly, thoroughly, and openly.

(1) How will the Board of Trustees address public concerns voiced at the June and July Board meetings?

(2) At its July 9 meeting, the Board announced it would pursue an early separation agreement with the current executive director. What is the timeline for hiring personnel — specifically an interim executive director, an executive director, and a director of adult services — at UFL?

(3) What criteria will be used for evaluating prospective candidates for the positions of interim executive director and executive director?

(4) As library staff have reported both publicly and in confidence that they were bullied and pressured by the Library’s executive director, what progress has been made towards updating the untenable, twenty-year old grievance process for staff?

Led by an outside consultant with little knowledge of our community, the Library created a strategic plan. Some of these planned changes — such as an effort to provide more community spaces — were made public through documents on the Library’s website after the controversy began.  Other significant changes  — such as a drastic reduction in the physical magazine collection — have only been addressed by library administrators.

(5) Are there plans for repurposing space? If so, what are they? Is there a long term strategy to increase the size of the building?

(6) What are short term plans for the following portions of the physical / print collection?

• Periodicals: Will these be reduced in number during the next 12-24 months? If so, why? What is the basis for this decision?
• A/V materials including CDs and DVDs: Some sections of this collection have already been significantly weeded; will this continue? Why?
• Is the Library committed to maintaining strong, diverse nonfiction and fiction print collections?
• What is the budget for ‘replenishing’ the collections with new items?
• Will there be balanced growth of physical and digital items?

At the July 9 Board meeting, the community was told that the strategic planning process would not be reopened, but that the public would be allowed to provide comment for an ‘addendum’ to the plan. Not only is the role of this addendum unclear, it will be difficult for the public to give meaningful comments since details about implementation such as timing and logistics (such as implications for personnel and re-allocation of library resources) are not currently available to the public.

(7) What is the Board’s understanding of the scope and purpose of the strategic plan as it has been adopted?

• What role will public comment play?  For instance, will the Board use public comment  to modify the existing (adopted) strategic plan?
• What are the specific action steps for the objectives and priorities in the current plan?
• Is the plan viewed as an entirely new vision for services and collections at UFL or is it viewed as a strategy for allocating resources to enhance existing services and collections?

Please act to restore the community’s trust in Urbana Free Library. We are watching and listening.

Sincerely,

Danielle Chynoweth
Brian Dolinar
John Paul (JP) Goguen
Ben Grosser
Laura Haber
Charles Harris
Frances Harris
Taylor Hocutt
Barbara Horne
Betsy Hearne
Andrew Heathwaite
Daniel S. Johnson
Al Kagan
Dan Keding
Kathryn La Barre
Kate McDowell
Erin Miller
Tracy Nectoux
Jadon Peck
Ashley R. Price
Jennifer Roth
Carey Smith
Lawrence D. Smith
Joan Stolz
Maggie Taylor
Don Thorsen
Carol L. Tilley

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If you are an Urbana (or Champaign) resident and wish to have your name added to this letter prior to its release to the News-Gazette site and its mailing to the Urbana Free Library Board of Trustees, please send your name and street address to reclaimingourlibrary@gmail.com by Monday, July 29, at noon.

A Little News

The Library's June 2013 statistical report was posted this weekend, making available a more complete view of changes in collections and circulation over the past several years. You can view a compilation spreadsheet of data points since 2007 and offer your comments / questions as well.

Interestingly the June 2013 report DOES NOT include accurate information about the extensive weeding of a portion of the adult nonfiction collection (#bookgate) that precipitated public concern. If you examine the report, you will not that it states 161 adult nonfiction and 9231 adult fiction books were removed from the collection. In actuality more than 9,000 nonfiction books were shipped to Better World Books. I

Many of the weeded books have been returned to the Library from Better World Books, and adult services librarians  are now re-evaluating these materials. A large number of these previously weeded books will likely be returned to the collection, but it may be several weeks before more accurate collection figures are available.

Director Lissak has provided some information about strategic planning in response to FOIA requests, but much of what she has returned is fairly minimal and consists primarily of documents recently made available on the Library's website. In the near future, we will compile documents from the FOIA requests and make them publicly available on this website.

In the News-Gazette, you can read librarian Amber Casten's tribute to recently retired head of adult services Anne Phillips  and a thoughtful commentary on library governance and public oversight by Barbara Wysocki.

The next meeting of the Urbana Free Library's Board of Trustees is Tuesday, August 13. If you are a local resident, we hope you will attend. We have much to learn from the Board about plans for an interim director,  how the public will be allowed to participate in strategic planning, and more. There are many questions that remain unanswered too. This blog will offer more information about the meeting closer to its occurrence.

Updates since the July 9 Trustee's Meeting

(8:00 a.m., July 16)

Thank you for letting us know your favorite aspects of Urbana Free Library. 87% of you named the 'fantastic selection of old and new books' as what you enjoy most, and 81% reported that the 'friendly staff and librarians' were tops for you. Many of you appreciate the AV selections and the magazines, and a smaller number of you enjoy the programming, computers, and space.

Keep track of the full timeline of events here (comment welcomed): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1P5LS5DtPzTDvl9OoyzYfMzxOdUthhd4MrvXse9THmRM

(10 a.m., July 15)

• News-Gazette (editorial): http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2013-07-15/change-coming-library.html

(12 p.m., July 12)

Thank you for your input on the poll (now closed). 59% of voters want to "demand Trustees reopen the strategic planning process," 54% of voters want to "work to ensure that the Library doesn't create an digital / device divide by shifting too much of its collection to online, downloadable, and streaming items," and 48% want to "thank Director Lissak for her service."

If you still have ideas, please add them as comments to this post or by sending an e-mail to reclaimingourlibrary@gmail.com

(9 a.m., July 12)

• News-Gazette: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-12/negotiations-begin-library-director.html

(10 p.m., July 11)

• WCIA TV: http://illinoishomepage.net/fulltext?nxd_id=509702 (Interview with Board of Trustees President Chris Scherer)

(9 a.m., July 10)
Here's some of the news coverage of last night's meeting:

• WILL/Illinois Public Media: http://will.illinois.edu/news/story/urbana-library-board-announces-separation-agreement-with-executive-director
• News-Gazette: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2013-07-09/updated-urbana-library-seek-early-separation-director.html
• Smile Politely: http://smilepolitely.com/culture/can_we_use_this_experience_to_make_our_library_more_beloved_than_ever/

If you would like to view the full meeting, please see the archived stream.

(11 p.m. July 9)

More soon, but there were dozens of people who remained in the Library's auditorium, waiting for the Board to return from closed session. At around 10 p.m. the Board returned with the announcement that Director Lissak would be pursuing early separation; details will be forthcoming.

Many issues remain on the table: grievance policy and strategic planning among them. We've got movement in the 'right' direction, but much work remains to be done.

Is This Strategic Plan 'Strategic' or a 'Plan'?

In May 2013, the Urbana Free Library's Board of Trustees voted to accept the Library's Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2014 - 2016. You can read the full document here.

On pages 2 and 3, you can read about the process. Among the items absent from this description of process is any attempt at a community needs assessment. The only document that points to some attempt at a needs assessment is a 5-year old patron survey, which had a 30% response rate (<350 REGISTERED BORROWERS). Yes, there is a more recent survey of parking that the library conducted, but that doesn't really count as anything complete.

In fact, the Director worked used a planning strategy that discouraged participants from considering the Library's history and traditions. The planning model even discouraged the use of focus groups and surveys, as "they are rarely visionary" (p. 2). Read more here.

Our Library's direction - the service priorities that omit lifelong learning (p. 6) - were determined in large measure by an appointed panel of community representatives, an appointed Board of Trustees, and the Library's administrators. Library staff had limited roles. The community of Urbana - whether registered borrowers of the Library or those who have less formal or no connections to the Library - were disenfranchised.

The strategic plan also omits action steps, a vital element in any plan. For instance, how will the Library achieve an increase in the circulation of adult materials? What must it do to see an increase in the use of meeting spaces?

It includes generic objectives and evaluation targets, It only minimally addresses how evaluation will occur; for example, it fails to address who will do the evaluation or when evaluation will occur or how the evaluation will be used?

The Urbana Free Library's strategic plan, as it currently exists, is neither strategic nor a plan. Consider instead the process and result from Seattle Public Library's most recent strategic plan: http://www.spl.org/about-the-library/strategic-planning  There are most likely imperfections in it as well, but as a whole, it comes infinitely closer to responsible and responsive planning and stewardship than the shallow, uninformed plan produced for Urbana Free Library.

Why is the Director opposed to re-opening the strategic planning process, even to allow for public comment (p. 3)? If this is a strong plan, it should withstand public scrutiny.

Let's say the planning process started anew, using a better model. Perhaps it will result in the same service priorities. That's fine. At least we can be certain that the Library is moving in a direction that the community values and demands.

A Few Reasons You Should Care about #BOOKGATE Even If You're Not from Urbana

I had a moment (or two) this evening. I wanted to encapsulate in a few tweets why what's going on / wrong at Urbana Free Library matters to everyone. This brief list isn't intended to be comprehensive, but I hope it will provoke conversation.

1. Public libraries are public institutions intended for the public good. We must ensure they remain responsive to the public.
2. Public libraries have always had to respond to competing needs, but libraries must understand those needs first!
3. Public libraries must remain a bulwark against digital / device divide; streaming & downloadable content don't work for all (and aren't desirable for others).
4. False dichotomies (e.g. change vs tradition, analog vs digital, space vs materials) should not drive strategic planning.
5. Librarians & library staff serve the public. It's not about pay or glamor or recognition. Their expertise & service ethic matter. They should not be bullied or belittled. They should have a meaningful voice in planning and implementation of services.
6. Strategic planning which is rushed, is not driven by genuine needs, and fails to include stakeholder and community voices is neither strategic nor planned. 
7. Public libraries should steward public resources for public good. That does not mean, however, they should be run like a business.

I do not want to send my LIS students out into a world of cookie-cutter, corporatized public libraries. This is my Howard Beale / Network moment: I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore.

If you're mad as hell too, do something. 

Trustee Bill Brown speaks about the crisis at Urbana Free Library

In today's News-Gazette (Sunday, July 7), Trustee Bill Brown - the newest member of the Library's Board - presents his thoughts on recent events and actions.

Here's are excerpts of Brown's comments:

The public comments at board meetings on June 11 and 19, as well as the city council meeting June 17, and the dedicated research and other materials provided by interested members of the public, will make it possible for the board to begin to address the many concerns library patrons have brought forward...

The library director recently put detailed statistics on the library website showing the sections that were weeded with this process. She also put board packets for previous meetings on the site along with the minutes that were already there. While this is a start to greater transparency, the board obviously would benefit from more public scrutiny. Not only was our adjournment late into the night on the 19th a violation of the Open Meetings Act, three of the first five meetings this year also adjourned after closing hours. If a member of the public wants to come to see the last five minutes of a meeting, they should be able to do that. Meeting rooms must remain open and meetings should be video recorded and archived...

In all of this, I'd like to remind folks that our library is more than a building and books and media and meeting space. The library has achieved excellence and respect through the work of people — directors, trustees and employees. There is no point in trashing reputations, but it's perfectly acceptable to be professionally critical of those who can respond in public — the director and the board. 

There is no excuse for shifting blame to employees or criticizing them in public. One of the first priorities of the board should be establishing effective grievance procedures and protections to help alleviate tension in the workplace. 

Thank you, Trustee Brown, for standing up against the status quo. We must discourage 'blamesplaining and voice our concerns. Let's put the public back in our public library.