Thanks Nora, here's the link again.

Library Board of Trustees Interviews/Appointments 9/29/09

PShooter
TAKEBACKWAREHAM

Nora: You have given new meaning to  the term "slam dunk". It's all been said before, but never so well and with such concise and irrefutable supporting evidence.

In a fair world four of the five current BOS  would serve time for their  past and continuing cruel  and dishonest treatment of some of the most effective, hard working ,and generous volunteers  Wareham has ever known.


Although we may not live to see the BOS "perps"  in a  pink suited  chain gang picking up trash along Cranberry Highway, (But,,Ah !, what a delicious thought!) , we can and must replace them before Wareham can become healthy.

Hi Dick!!! FYI. I just heard from the lawyers that the 60 day waiting period has lapsed and the litigation is officially over!!!!!!!! And guess what??? There was nothing to sign!!

Also, I appreciate your comments Larry, PShooter and Molly. Currently (shameless plug a la PShooter!!) the Friends are putting together a cookbook to raise money for the main library to purchase books. They will be for sale at our annual Holiday Fair on Dec. 5 at the library along with our annual cookie sale. Books and gift items will also be on sale. All proceeds of this annual sale are spent on the main library. It's a lot of work, but we believe it is for a good cause. So put it on your calendars from 9:30 to 1:30 at the library!!

The Mass Board of Library Commissioners follows the statute that requires a town of our size to spend 15% percent of the overall budget on books and materials. The town's budget hasn't included any money for books and materials in the past two years, so the Friends have stepped forward. This appropriation is required for Certification.

By the way, I want to comment on something else that came up at the library trustee interviews. I was at the appeal session with the Library Commissioners, and Mr. Sanguinet stood up and stated that he was completely responsible for reducing the hours of the library. Ms. Donahue and Ms. Eckstrom were in the room at the time. The acting library director was told by her boss the ITA that he was reducing the hours and cutting some part time staff, laying off a full time staff, and cutting the hours of the remaining part time and full time staff. She had no control over that. Two of the full time staff were union, and they could not have their hours cut. So, why did they work in the unheated library when it was closed to the public? Someone had to do the work of the people who were let go or the work that would have been done in the hours that were cut. That work piled up while the staff worked extremely hard filling in all the positions that were cut or reduced. The same patrons used the library on the days it was open, so it isn't like the work suddenly was cut in half even though the staff was. 

As to the volunteers. Let me say a thing or two about that. The town policy is to CORI volunteers. This is very important in a place where children and young adults congregate!! Approximately 10 new volunteers filled out forms. The acting director sent them to the ITA. It took almost 6 months and several unanswered emails and phone messages by the Acting Lib. Director to the ITA to finally get the CORIs. When about half of the people who signed up still wanted to volunteer, one of the part time librarians who was let go completely came in and volunteered to train the new volunteers so the staff would not have to take time from their jobs to do the training as well. The library staff is exceptionally loyal and dedicated. One other part timer let go completely also comes in to volunteer!! It's very hurtful to those of us who are associated with the library to be treated so poorly and with such disrespect.

So, when Mrs. Eckstrom said it was "spiteful," that the library didn't use volunteers she was incorrect. Perhaps she should ask the ITA about it!! My understanding is that the BoS told the ITA not to fall on his sword for the library. I guess he chose not to. But for him to sit there every time this subject has been brought up and not say a word is cowardly, in my opinion. And for Slager to say the director "refused" to allow volunteers to work in the library is a total fabrication.

One last word. When the CORIs were sent directly to the police department in the past, they were returned almost immediately. But now the CORIs have to be sent to the ITA. And it is my understanding that not answering phone messages or emails is part of his method of operation.

Don't cross 'em or you'll be sorry.

Thank you Nora, thank you, thank you. Can you donate books, as well?

PShooter
TAKEBACKWAREHAM

I donate my used books to the library all the time. Plus, I buy all my reading material there and then I recycle it by returning it for the next sale. But I didn't realize the Friends spent so much money on books. Like many true volunteers, these people don't seem to brag very much. I don't call that secrecy though. I think it is a virtue.

Congratulations on the end of the legal business. Now I hope everyone will get back to normal and stop the nastiness.

Last edited by Molly (2009-10-07 12:27:25)

That would be 0-5.....just for the record....but I'm not counting...i'm just gloating

Liz, All I can say is that our lawyers always told us there was nothing to sign. They told us that in some cases, both parties agree to a formal signed document. We did not do that nor were we asked to do that. He also told us it was not mandatory. When the judge read the settlement agreement into the record at the end of 10 hours of mediation the case was done. We then had to wait 60 days for the courts to call the case officially dismissed. None of the selectmen stayed for the part where the judge read the settlement into the record, but their lawyers were there and every lawyer was polled for agreement with the statement on behalf of their clients. The town's lawyers all agreed to the judge's statement of the facts of the settlement.


Ham, you are right. This has been a constant lie and I believe I heard Mr. Slavin say the same thing or something quite similar on the trustee interview video. I occasionally did volunteer work in the library, as did other long time volunteers, on the days it was closed. (Yes, it was often cold and one of the library staff actually knit those hand mitten things without the fingers so the staff could work on the days the heat was off.) On those days, I observed the paid staff members scurrying around trying to get the work done that had backed up so when the library was open they could take care of the patrons.

Here is an example: the technical services librarian's full time job is to take care of the technical services. This includes but is not limited to purchasing new books and materials, cataloging them, preparing them for going on the shelves, weeding the current collection, and many other tasks. But when the staff and hours were cut, she had to work in other areas of the library such as the circulation desk, children's room or reference to cover the jobs of people who were let go or had hours reduced. Who was doing the job of technical services librarian you might ask while she was working other areas? No one. Her worked piled up on her desk until she worked on the day the library was closed and tried to catch up on several days of work in one day. This is just one example. To say these people got paid for not working is an insult to the hard working employees at the library who have been doing extra work for so long.

For people to continue to lie about it when they never verified their "fact" that the staff was getting paid without working is unacceptable behavior. All they had to do was stop by the library and ask one of the staff members or the acting director. Or they could have instructed the ITA to look into it and report back to them. I'm curious as to why the selectmen kept making that statement, Mr. Cronan especially, but never did anything about it or looked into it. For the selectmen to have let something like that actually go on, would have been an irresponsible use of tax dollars no matter what department it occurred in. My own opinion is that it was just another way to constantly slam the library and make the acting director look bad. In fact, she was doing the work of three people, the reference librarian, the assistant director and the acting director while these people were making false accusations about the volunteers and about staff getting paid and not working.  Got any other lies you'd like me to debunk?