I had an illuminating conversation today with someone who claims deep knowledge of Redwood City's powerful insiders If his comments to me are reflective of the machinations behind the Schaberg issues, it's important they be known publicly. So here I'll share the conversation; as he did not make these comments publicly, I'm not disclosing identity, or that of the group he's affiliated with.
This man is with a local political association. He contacted me to explore the possibility of our group meeting with his. But he didn't want us to simply provide someone to speak to the group. He wanted our group to meet with him, then have him present to the Executive Committee of his group () . Then, if they wanted to help us, they would allow us to come present to his whole group and we could begin working together.
I noted that our committee has met physically only twice because we're all busy, and that most of our communication happens via e-mail. I was more than willing to answer any questions and come talk to their group (or have another committee member attend). He declined, and here's where the conversation got interesting: he said the group is not comfortable with how the committee has been approaching the threat to the Schaberg branch.
His key issue: that we've been dealing with this publicly. He said we should have private meetings with city, library and foundation official to find out why decisions have been made. That they would give us information that would let us know more about what is going on and what other paths we could take.
Let me underline the implication here: that the real information on the disposition of the bequest money and the potential closure of Schaberg could be revealed to me behind closed doors.
He reiterated that I should meet on my own with Councilwoman Pierce, Library Director Genesy, Foundation Director LaBerge and Ms. LaBerge's husband, a professional mediator. I had declined this months ago when Councilwoman Pierce suggested it, and here's why: one, this is not a personality conflict and I am not the issue; and two, discussions regarding the library and library funding should be a matter of public record.
This grew more and more disturbing as we talked, and hours later it's still upsetting. Why was this being put forth as an “insiders vs. outsiders” issue? I just don't understand why there are any outsiders when it comes to community issues.
I was also told that our group seemed to have concerns: the fate of Schaberg, the disposition of the bequest; and retired librarian Chuck Ashton. I corrected that third point: our issue is not with Mr. Ashton specifically, but with the allocation of $200,000 for his storytelling services over five years while a library's fate is in the balance.
Now another intriguing turn: my contact said, "Well, imagine that you had the money to keep the library open separate from the bequest. Would you still pursue that path?" I said that the scenario didn't make sense, since that is not the reality we're dealing with. He pressed, "But if you had the money, would you continue on this path?" I asked if one of his group members was ready to write a large check to the library; he said of course not. So why, I asked would I spend time and energy pondering an imaginary solution?
Over the course of our talk my caller returned repeatedly to one theme: the Committee to Save Schaberg is making the wrong choice by conducting our campaign publicly, providing the press with information, and involving the library's users. He made it clear the best way to handle it was behind closed doors with the powers that be – even going so far as to imply that the real power behind these choices is not the person who publicly bears that responsibility. At one point I felt I should be having this conversation in a parking garage and that I should be calling my contact by the name of a porn movie! (Watergate and Deep Throat, people; if you don't remember that, rent the movie) :-)
I finally told my contact our group is doing the right things; that this is a public issue and that people must be informed. If he and his group decide to support Schaberg, I said, they're certainly welcome to use whatever methods they deem appropriate. We ended the conversation.
And this is the road we're staying on. Redwood City's passionate, involved community deserves to be fully informed about decisions that affect us. The Committee is determined to work openly and transparently to bring adequate funding to Schaberg, and full library services to Redwood City's west side. It's not clear which or how many people my caller represents. But it is clear he endorses the exact kind of back-room dealing that's brought this valuable library branch to the precipice, and that's not the way to bring it back.
Please take a moment TODAY to call or email the Mayor or a council member (here is all the contact info), and the Library Board members (a list is here). Tell them how important Schaberg Library, and a public dialogue about its future are to you. And thanks for your continued support!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Children's Author Terri Farley speaks up for Schaberg
Lovesong to Libraries #1
Schaberg was my husband’s boyhood library, the first place Cory was allowed to walk alone. Cocky with independence, he’d go striding down Alameda to Vera, then cross the Roosevelt School playground to Euclid Avenue just because he could.
Sure, he came home with an armload of books, quickly read so that he could make that trip again, but this small library gave him more than the roots of learning, it gave him the hidden gift of independence.
We live in Nevada, now, but it’s no coincidence we bought a house across the street from a rural library.
I discovered how closely my children resembled their father the day a librarian brought our dogs home. Rookie and Rosie had escaped their kennel and ended their frolic at the Verdi library. I was surprised and pleased that they knew where to go for help. Then the librarian confided that all of the hours of exercise I thought my dogs and kids were getting -- well, those ended at the library, too.
After darting down our dirt road and across the street, my kids went in to read. Rookie and Rosie, collie and German Shepherd, provided the Verdi equivalent of the New York City Public Library lions.
My children’s love of books was no surprise, but they were both a bit shy and I was delighted that they’d talked adults into keeping their visits secret.
As a pudgy girl with glasses and disabling asthma, I rarely rode bikes and played street ball with friends. I was a poor athlete, the classic “last chosen” for school teams, but I was a star at the Paramount public library. Within days of crossing the library threshold, Nancy Drew mysteries and horse books literally had my name on them, because checking out a book meant signing a card that lived inside it.
One day a librarian told me, as she stamped and stacked my books, that my name should be Phillipa, because it meant lover of horses. I was stunned. She knew I loved horses? Names had meanings? Fifty years later, I still feel the elation and wonder.
Cory grew up to be a Best-of-Gannett newspaper columnist. I grew up to write books for young readers. My daughter will soon teach high school English and my son writes brilliantly on popular culture. Books gave us affection for stories and words, but small libraries like Schaberg gave us the hidden gifts of independence, communication and self-worth.
A seed that grows a thousand blooms is rare, but neighborhood libraries are just that, growing readers and thinking human beings by the bushel. We owe it to our children to keep them alive.
Schaberg was my husband’s boyhood library, the first place Cory was allowed to walk alone. Cocky with independence, he’d go striding down Alameda to Vera, then cross the Roosevelt School playground to Euclid Avenue just because he could.
Sure, he came home with an armload of books, quickly read so that he could make that trip again, but this small library gave him more than the roots of learning, it gave him the hidden gift of independence.
We live in Nevada, now, but it’s no coincidence we bought a house across the street from a rural library.
I discovered how closely my children resembled their father the day a librarian brought our dogs home. Rookie and Rosie had escaped their kennel and ended their frolic at the Verdi library. I was surprised and pleased that they knew where to go for help. Then the librarian confided that all of the hours of exercise I thought my dogs and kids were getting -- well, those ended at the library, too.
After darting down our dirt road and across the street, my kids went in to read. Rookie and Rosie, collie and German Shepherd, provided the Verdi equivalent of the New York City Public Library lions.
My children’s love of books was no surprise, but they were both a bit shy and I was delighted that they’d talked adults into keeping their visits secret.
As a pudgy girl with glasses and disabling asthma, I rarely rode bikes and played street ball with friends. I was a poor athlete, the classic “last chosen” for school teams, but I was a star at the Paramount public library. Within days of crossing the library threshold, Nancy Drew mysteries and horse books literally had my name on them, because checking out a book meant signing a card that lived inside it.
One day a librarian told me, as she stamped and stacked my books, that my name should be Phillipa, because it meant lover of horses. I was stunned. She knew I loved horses? Names had meanings? Fifty years later, I still feel the elation and wonder.
Cory grew up to be a Best-of-Gannett newspaper columnist. I grew up to write books for young readers. My daughter will soon teach high school English and my son writes brilliantly on popular culture. Books gave us affection for stories and words, but small libraries like Schaberg gave us the hidden gifts of independence, communication and self-worth.
A seed that grows a thousand blooms is rare, but neighborhood libraries are just that, growing readers and thinking human beings by the bushel. We owe it to our children to keep them alive.
Friday, April 22, 2011
So, What's Up with the Schaberg Library Branch?
The Schaberg branch of the Redwood City Library System, once a fully-functional library with normal reliable hours, is now operating with a curtailed schedule and is under threat of eventual closure.
Schaberg is the only city library branch west of downtown, serving patrons well beyond the Roosevelt neighborhood. There has already been an attempt to cut children's services, with the suspension of its homework group. Outcry from the patrons brought that group back, and prevented its being changed to a for-pay service. But other cuts, even complete closure, are still possible.
This has been presented to the public (in the few words the City has acknowledged the situation with at all) as a funding issue. But at the same time, $225,000 bequeathed to the city by a long-time patron has been earmarked to pay a storyteller: a retired librarian, billing $45 per hour with a two-hour ($90) minimum, to sing and tell stories to children, spend 20 minutes at a tea event, or pass out brochures at a preschool event.
The threats to Schaberg's future became public when trustee Sharon Levin resigned her post on the library's board, so that she could discuss the issue openly. Levin questioned the disposition of the bequest while still on the board; she was told only, "that boat has sailed". No discussion of the decision appears in the public notes of the meetings; no discussion was held at the November 2010 meeting of the City Council, when the decision was approved.
While Schaberg faces potential closure, the storytelling ex-librarian is guaranteed his $90-per-event pay for a full five year. Librarians have offered to do the same work in the same hours they're working now. Volunteers have offered to do the same for no pay. No explanation is forthcoming from the Library Foundation or the City Council as to why these offers are turned down.
Levin also questioned why materials at the Redwood Shores branch are restricted to that branch only, not shared as materials are between all other branches. Likewise, the Shores branch has benefited from extensive fundraising; the same is underway now for the Fair Oaks branch. No fundraising is planned for the Schaberg branch - again, without explanation.
Receiving no satisfactory answers, Levin left her position and formed the Committee to Save Schaberg with other concerned citizens. The Committee's goal is to convince the city to re-examine its allocation of nearly a quarter of a million dollars to a former library employee, while a branch of the library itself is on life support.
Redwood City Mayor Jeff Ira told redwoodcitypatch.com that the city's policy is to not direct one-time funds to ongoing expenses. There's no record that such a policy has ever existed formally; the mayor and other officials cited it when the issue began attracting attention.
Moreover, despite increasing public outcry, no member of the city council, the Library Board, nor the Library Foundation has been willing to discuss these issues in an open dialogue. Efforts to place the issue on the City Council agenda were reviewed and rejected by the mayor, the vice-mayor, and the city manager.
The goals of the Committee to Save Schaberg are four-fold:
We welcome all your questions and comments below, screened only for civility, not for content or sentiment.
Schaberg is the only city library branch west of downtown, serving patrons well beyond the Roosevelt neighborhood. There has already been an attempt to cut children's services, with the suspension of its homework group. Outcry from the patrons brought that group back, and prevented its being changed to a for-pay service. But other cuts, even complete closure, are still possible.
This has been presented to the public (in the few words the City has acknowledged the situation with at all) as a funding issue. But at the same time, $225,000 bequeathed to the city by a long-time patron has been earmarked to pay a storyteller: a retired librarian, billing $45 per hour with a two-hour ($90) minimum, to sing and tell stories to children, spend 20 minutes at a tea event, or pass out brochures at a preschool event.
The threats to Schaberg's future became public when trustee Sharon Levin resigned her post on the library's board, so that she could discuss the issue openly. Levin questioned the disposition of the bequest while still on the board; she was told only, "that boat has sailed". No discussion of the decision appears in the public notes of the meetings; no discussion was held at the November 2010 meeting of the City Council, when the decision was approved.
While Schaberg faces potential closure, the storytelling ex-librarian is guaranteed his $90-per-event pay for a full five year. Librarians have offered to do the same work in the same hours they're working now. Volunteers have offered to do the same for no pay. No explanation is forthcoming from the Library Foundation or the City Council as to why these offers are turned down.
Levin also questioned why materials at the Redwood Shores branch are restricted to that branch only, not shared as materials are between all other branches. Likewise, the Shores branch has benefited from extensive fundraising; the same is underway now for the Fair Oaks branch. No fundraising is planned for the Schaberg branch - again, without explanation.
Receiving no satisfactory answers, Levin left her position and formed the Committee to Save Schaberg with other concerned citizens. The Committee's goal is to convince the city to re-examine its allocation of nearly a quarter of a million dollars to a former library employee, while a branch of the library itself is on life support.
Redwood City Mayor Jeff Ira told redwoodcitypatch.com that the city's policy is to not direct one-time funds to ongoing expenses. There's no record that such a policy has ever existed formally; the mayor and other officials cited it when the issue began attracting attention.
Moreover, despite increasing public outcry, no member of the city council, the Library Board, nor the Library Foundation has been willing to discuss these issues in an open dialogue. Efforts to place the issue on the City Council agenda were reviewed and rejected by the mayor, the vice-mayor, and the city manager.
The goals of the Committee to Save Schaberg are four-fold:
- to engage the City Council and Library Board in public, open discussion of these issues;
- to see the bequest funds redirected from their current earmarked use - an exorbitant salary over five years for a single individual, for services qualified volunteers have offered to perform - to restoring full services and hours to the Schaberg branch;
- to establish equitable funding and services for all branches, without favoritism; and
- to organize ongoing fund development for Schaberg, insuring its continued service to the west side of Redwood City and all its neighbors.
We welcome all your questions and comments below, screened only for civility, not for content or sentiment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)