Great Barrington — At the Libraries Board of Trustees’ regular meeting on Tuesday, June 20 at Town Hall, Chairman Patrick Hollenbeck said that the town’s library system is “in a real crisis” due to being short six employees.
Previously, at the Selectboard’s meeting on Monday, June 12, Town Manager Mark Pruhenski announced that, due to the employee shortage, both Mason and Ramsdell libraries would be operating at reduced hours.
The Mason Library’s operating hours were previously Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The library will now be closed on Sundays and Mondays and will operate from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
The previous operating hours for the Ramsdell Library were Monday through Wednesday 1 to 6 p.m., closed Thursday and Friday, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.
The current hours are Monday and Tuesday 1 to 6 p.m., closed Wednesday through Saturday, and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
At a previous Libraries Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday, May 17, Library Director Samara Klein announced that she would be stepping down from her position after serving for nine months. At the Library Trustees meeting on June 20, Town Manager Pruhenski announced that Klein had formally stepped down and that Donna Brown had been appointed as the Interim Library Director. Brown was previously the Assistant Director of Operations for the library.
Pruhenski said that Christine Warner, who previously served as the library’s Adult Circulation Supervisor, has been appointed as the Interim Assistant Director. Warner will be replacing Talya Leodari, who previously announced that she would be resigning on Friday, June 23.
Pruhenski said that the Library Director position has been posted on the town’s website via the job board Indeed. According to the Indeed posting, the town is listing the position as full-time for up to $72,000 a year.
“We decided to hold back on the Assistant Director Position until we have a Director in place so that we can have the new Director participate in the hiring process,” Pruhenski said. “Both [Klein and Leodari] have agreed to work for us on a very part-time basis to do a few very specific responsibilities during this transition. For example, [Klein] will be coming in to do some payroll and end-of-fiscal year close-out work since we’re on the cusp of Fiscal ’24. And [Leodari] will be working for us part-time completing the required state reporting.”
Trustee Sandra Pantorno asked Pruhenski if all of the vacant positions have been listed on the town’s website.
“I don’t think every position is posted at the moment,” Pruhenski responded. “We’re reviewing [the positions] just like we do with any opening. We will revisit and review the job description and then post it.”
Throughout the Library Trustees meeting, in light of the high amount of job vacancies and the resignations of both Klein and Leodari, members questioned whether or not the staff is receiving enough support from the town and the Trustees themselves. “I have been hearing that there is a little disconnect from the Trustees and the [libraries] staff because they feel a little unsupported,” Trustee Carol McGlinchey said. “I think, going forward, we really need to address why they feel unsupported. Why do we have this attrition? Why do we have a turnover of a Director and an Assistant Director? How can we be in communication and dialogue with the staff as Trustees, because we need to have their back. It’s a real eye-opener to see the stress they are under. We are going into their fourth season of no air conditioning [at the Mason Library] through the summer, which is brutal and unfair. If it was happening at Town Hall or the Police Department, I’m not sure they would tolerate four summers with no air conditioning. So we can talk about strategic plans all we want, but we have to let them know how valued they are, how much they are appreciated, and to be there for them. It is a real eye-opener to me to see the stress that they are under, and to have had six people exit as they did, I’m concerned. There’s a lot of disgruntled people there. Personally, if I heard that and I was applying [for a job], I would ask a lot of questions.”
“I’ve looked into some of this stuff, and there has been an epidemic of people leaving their employment in education and in libraries,” Chairman Hollenbeck said. “There is an enormous amount of library directorships open all over the country. It is a major consideration all over the place, but you are right about the air conditioning and stuff. I can tell you, from even other people talking about the supply chain, I can’t even get work done for my own house. So there are a lot of things that we can’t fix. There are other things that have happened that you may not know about. I spoke twice this year in support of the staff getting wages, probably to [Pruhenski’s] chagrin.”
Hollenbeck said that he knew that Klein “was starting with a tough job” when she started as Library Director. “I went there to see her once during her first week to know we supported her,” Hollenbeck said. “We have had past Trustee chairs that may have been a little assertive with library staff. I think that’s baggage that we’re getting from 10 years ago or more. It’s hard to kind of work our way through this, and we have to. The first step is that there needs to be some contact with the Trustees and the staff, which is what we’re trying to work on. [The staff] will tell us frankly, and anonymously, how they feel. Things are not moving fast enough, and we’re in a real crisis.”
Hollenbeck then proceeded to blame the local media and its reporting on the situation as contributing to the library system’s crisis. “Obviously, the media hasn’t helped us because they’ve told stories that are partially true, and people read what they read,” Hollenbeck said. “Everybody gravitates towards sensational stories, and I think it’s wrong. They tend to use [Klein’s] picture for some articles. That didn’t help her career either, and it was awful. But maybe it was clickbait, and then maybe people hit [the article] because other stuff is going on in Great Barrington. I’m probably saying things that I shouldn’t be saying, but that’s what we have going on.”
Hollenbeck did not specifically say what was erroneous in any of the articles covering the town’s libraries, and The Berkshire Edge has never received a correction request from Hollenbeck or any of the Library Trustees on any of its articles.
Also at the meeting, Interim Library Director Brown gave the trustees her first report. “We’re just really short-staffed,” Brown said. “I have two people out sick today, and we had to close the children’s room early. When I’m covering the front desk, it’s really hard to go get reports [from other staff members].”
