To a largely unmoved library board, some 30 patrons of Oak Park (Ill.) Public Library's Maze branch demanded again December 15 that two popular branch librarians who were transferred without explanation be returned. And the board again defended the transfers, saying they were in the community's best interest but declining to elaborate further on what board President Janet Kelenson called “a personnel matter.”
At a November 17 board meeting, some 60 residents had already presented a petition with over 500 signatures calling for the reinstatement of Susan Ruffolo and Ruth Ebbinghaus, who were suddenly transferred in October, following an altercation Ruffolo is reported to have had with a patron.
Activist Sharon Ganellen told American Libraries, “This is a community that supports its libraries, and its librarians are very important to us. The community is speaking; the library board and director [Ed Byers] are not listening.”
Posted December 21, 1998.